Levels of Polonium-210 in brain and pulmonary tissues: Preliminary study in autopsies conducted in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil

The accumulation of detectable amounts of radon progeny in human tissues may be a risk factor for development and progression of chronic diseases. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the levels of alpha-emitting radon progeny Polonium-210 ( 210 Po) in the olfactory epithelium, olfactory bulb, fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-01, Vol.10 (1), p.180, Article 180
Main Authors: Santos, Nathalia Villa dos, Vieira, Carolina Leticia Zilli, Saldiva, Paulo Hilario Nascimento, Paci Mazzilli, Barbara, Saiki, Mitiko, Saueia, Catia Heloisa, De André, Carmen Diva Saldiva, Justo, Lisie Tocci, Nisti, Marcelo Bessa, Koutrakis, Petros
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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692/699/375
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Air Pollutants, Radioactive - analysis
Air pollution
Autopsy
Black carbon
Brain - metabolism
Brazil
Cadavers
Chronic illnesses
Commuting
Female
Frontal lobe
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Lung - metabolism
Lungs
Male
Middle Aged
multidisciplinary
Neurodegenerative diseases
Offspring
Olfactory bulb
Olfactory epithelium
Polonium
Polonium - analysis
Polonium-210
Radioisotopes
Radon
Regression analysis
Risk Factors
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Smell
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomics
Young Adult
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Summary:The accumulation of detectable amounts of radon progeny in human tissues may be a risk factor for development and progression of chronic diseases. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the levels of alpha-emitting radon progeny Polonium-210 ( 210 Po) in the olfactory epithelium, olfactory bulb, frontal lobe, and lung tissues in cadavers from the city of Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. We also assessed the association between 210 Po levels and exposure parameters for urban air pollution using linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, smoke, time living in Sao Paulo, daily commuting, socioeconomic index, and anthracosis (traffic-related black carbon accumulation in the pleural region and in lymph). Our findings show that the concentration of 210 Po was associated with anthracosis in lungs of non-smokers (coefficient = 6.0; standard error = 2.9; p  = 0.04). Individuals with lower socioeconomic status also had significantly higher 210 Po levels in lungs (coefficient = −1.19; standard error = 0.58; p  = 0.042). The olfactory bulb had higher 210 Po levels than either olfactory epithelium ( p  = 0.071), frontal lobe ( p  
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-56973-z