Environmental Health Perspectives 105, Supplement 1, February 1997

Factors Influencing Susceptibility to Metals

Michael Gochfeld

Department of Environmental and Community Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey

Abstract
Although the long-neglected field of human susceptibility to environmental toxicants is currently receiving renewed attention, there is only scant literature on factors influencing susceptibility to heavy metals. Genetic factors may influence the availability of sulfhydryl-containing compounds such as glutathione and metallothionein, which modify the distribution and toxicity of certain metals. Age and gender play a role in modifying uptake and distribution, although the mechanisms are often obscure. Concurrent exposure to divalent cations may enhance or reduce the toxicity of certain metals through competition for receptor-mediated transport or targets. Increasing use of biomarkers of exposure should greatly increase our understanding of the underlying distribution of susceptibility to various environmental agents. -- Environ Health Perspect 105(Suppl 4):817-822 (1997)

Key words: age, cadmium, gender, glutathione, heavy metals, lead, mercury, metallothionein, susceptibility, zinc

This paper was prepared as background for the Workshop on Susceptibility to Environmental Hazards convened by the Scientific Group on Methodologies for the Safety Evaluation of Chemicals (SGOMSEC) held 17-22 March 1996 in Espoo, Finland. Manuscript received at EHP 5 November 1996; accepted 18 November 1996.
I thank J. Burger, B. Goldstein, and S. Sandberg for valuable comments and suggestions; and referees G. Green and C. Ramel whose suggestions greatly strengthened the paper. This research was supported partially by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FCO1-95EW-55084) and by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant ES 05955.
Address correspondence to Dr. M. Gochfeld, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, 681 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08855. Telephone: 732-445-2917. Fax: 732-445-0130. E-mail: gochfeld@eohsi.rutgers.edu
Abbreviations used: AAT, alpha1-antitrypsin; Cd, cadmium; GSH, glutathione; MT, metallothionein(s); Zn, zinc.

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Last Update: June 17, 1997