Jiro Moriguchi

Rice as the most influential source of cadmium intake among general Japanese population.

The objective of the present study is to examine whether rice is still a leading source of cadmium (Cd) burden among general populations in Japan. For this purpose, 10 prefectures were selected from all over Japan (including the northern- and southern-most Hokkaido and Okinawa prefecture, respectively). Cadmium levels in urine of never-smoking women (corrected for creatinine; Cd-Ucr) were compared with the rice- and wheat product-based Cd intake, which were estimated from Cd contents in rice and wheat (in the forms of bread, noodle and flour) consumed by residents in the areas, and per-capita daily consumption of rice and wheat. Stepwise multiple regression analysis taking Cd-Ucr as a dependent variable and rice- or wheat product-based Cd intakes as independent variables showed that rice was the most influential and almost exclusive variable with a partial correlation coefficient of 0.770-0.832, explaining 59-69% of total variation in Cd-Ucr. The effects of other sources including wheat were essentially negligible.

α1-Microglobulin levels and correlation with cadmium and other metals in urine of non-smoking women among general populations in Japan

The present study was initiated to examine urinary α1-microglobulin (α1-MG-U) levels among non-smoking women in the general population in Japan. A previously established database on spot urine samples from adult woman volunteers in 10 non-polluted areas all over Japan was re-examined. The data examined were on α1-MG-U, cadmium, calcium, magnesium and zinc levels in urine (Cd-U, Ca-U, Mg-U and Zn-U, respectively), urinary creatinine (CR or cr), urine specific gravity (SG or sg), smoking habits and age. Thus, 8975 never-smoking women were selected for statistical analyses. The grand geometric mean (GM) for α1-MG-U among the population was 2.1 mg/L or 2.5 mg/g cr, depending on the correction for urine density. It was 1.1 µg/L or 1.3 µg/g cr for GM Cd-U. The inter-area difference in α1-MG-U was <1.5 mg/g cr or <0.7 mg/L; the area with the highest or lowest GM Cd-U was not always highest or lowest in GM α1-MG-U. The correlation coefficient (0.53) between log Cd-U and log α1-MG-U (both without urine density correction) became substantially smaller when the analyte levels were corrected for CR (0.25) or SG (0.26). In multiple regression analysis, the power of influence of the five independent variables (log Cd-U, Ca-U, Mg-U, Zn-U and age) in combination was small (R 2 ≦ 0.13). In contrast, logistic regression analysis suggested that α1-MG-U might be elevated as a function of an increase in Cd-U, depending on the cut-off values. Discussion was made on dose (Cd-Ucr) and response (α1-MG-Ucr) relationship based on information available in literatures to show that the increment in α1-MG-Ucr per Cd-Ucr was much greater when Cd-Ucr was large, e.g., in excess of 10 µg/g cr.