Accumulation of trace element content in the lungs of Sao Paulo city residents and its correlation to lifetime exposure to air pollution

Heavy metals are natural and essential elements of the environment and living beings, produced from natural (e.g. volcanic activity and cosmic ray-induced spallation) and anthropogenic processes (e.g. industrial and fossil fuel combustion). Studies showed increase of heavy metal and Polonium-210 concentrations in lung autopsies linked to urban and industrial air pollution. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the levels of heavy metals and Polonium-210 ( 210 Po) in lung tissues in autopsies from residents of the city of Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. In order to identify the generating sources of the heavy metals in lung a factor analysis was performed. Of the first four factors, which explain 66% of the total variability, three were associated with vehicular sources. The fitting of a regression model with Polonium-210 as the response variable and with the four factors as explanatory variables, controlling for age, sex and tobacco, showed a significant association between the concentration of polonium and the first factor that is generated by catalysts and brakes (coefficient = 0.90, standard error = 0.33, p = 0.016). Our findings suggest an association between the metals trace, from air pollution, and Polonium-210 in lung autopsies.