Levels of heavy metals in women residing in the Russian Arctic.

Within the framework of the joint Russian-Norwegian project on human health assessment of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, a study on heavy metals was conducted in 42 nonindigenous women who delivered in the hospitals of Norilsk and Salekhard during February-March 1995. Samples of venous blood, breast milk, umbilical cord blood, and placental tissue were collected. The concentration of lead, cadmium, and nickel in these tissues and fluids was estimated by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). Total mercury concentration was measured by cold vapor AAS. The results obtained are determined, first, by the level of local food consumption, especially fish and reindeer meat; second, by smoking habits; and, third, by industrial pollution of ambient air, fresh water, and snow cover. A comparison of the results of this study with those of the Inuit Health Survey has shown that the difference between the Canadian and Russian data can be explained by factors of differing diet and differing levels of industrial pollution. Where a similar contaminant concentration in human tissues occurred, as in a smoking habit, no differences in the levels of a pollutant such as cadmium were revealed.