2024-06-162024-06-162013https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-939https://openumwelt.de/handle/123456789/9361Human biomonitoring is an important tool for the evaluation of environmental exposure to contaminants. The data that are obtained from these studies might be compared to appropriate referencevalues(RVs) in aspecific population. The RVs were derived from the rounded valuesof the upper limit of the 95th confidence interval of the 95th percentile for lead(Pb), cadmium(Cd) and mercury(Hg) in bloodfrom adultsin the metropolitanareaof SaoPaulo(MASP), Brazil to investigate the association between bloodmetals and sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Bloodsamples from 653 nonsmoking blood donors without occupational exposure to the studied metals were collected in 2006. Our evaluations distinguished ayounger group (18-39 years) and an older group (40-65 years). RVs in the younger group were 60 Ţg Pb/L and 4 Ţg Hg/L for men and 47 Ţg Pb/L and 4 Ţg Hg/L for women. RVs in the older group were 80 Ţg Pb/L and 5 Ţg Hg/L for men and 63 Ţg Pb/L and 6 Ţg Hg/L for women. The RV for Cd was 0.6 Ţg/L for adultsaged 18-65 years. Pb and Cd levels demonstrated asignificant association with sex and age. Male blood contained 50% more Pb, and the older group exhibited 23% more Pb. Fish consumption and amalgam fillings were primarily related to Hg levels. RVs for lead were similar to the Czech Republic and Germany but higher than the US population. The RV for Cd in Brazil was well below the RVs of these countries. The RVs for Hg in Brazil were similar to the US but higher than Germany and the Czech Republic.Copyright ©2012 Elsevier GmbH.enghttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/MonitoringUmweltqualitätUmwelthygieneWissenschaftlicher Artikel