0000000000292782
AUTHOR
Thomas H. Darrah
Medical Geochemistry
Preface.- How trace element contents in bronchoalveolar lavages can probe the human exposure to inhaled particulates.- Geochemistry and Biochemistry - insights into the fate and transport of Pt-based chemotherapy drugs.- Atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) in the Middle East: Toxicity, trans-boundary transport and influence of synoptic conditions.- Reaction path modeling: theoretical aspects and applications.- An observation on the composition of urinary calculi: environment influence.- Magnetite minerals in the human brain: what's their role?.- Chemometrics and Medical Geochemistry: A brief tutorial.- Dust, metals and metalloids in the environment: from air to hair.- Metal Geochemistry of …
Using the Trace Element Contents in Bronchoalveolar Lavages to Probe the Human Exposure to Inhaled Particulates
Explosive volcanic eruptions eject large volumes of high surface area, metal-rich dust and ash into the atmosphere. In areas near major volcanic eruptions, humans often interact with these materials and may bioaccumulate heavy and toxic metals. To evaluate these interactions, we examine bronchoalveolar lavage samples (BAL) collected from people exposed to the paroxysmal 2001 Etna eruption. BAL samples reveal a strong enrichment of many toxic heavy metals and the capacity for trace elements released from inhaled particles to induce crystallisation of phosphatic microcryst biominerals in intraaveolar spaces. BAL rare earth element (REE) concentration patterns normalised to shale reveal a ‘V-s…