Organ distribution of heavy metals in autopsy material from normal Korean

To obtain the usual value of aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silicon, tin, vanadium and zinc in the normal human body, the amounts of these 16 metals were determined in 89 male and 61 female Korean cadavers, whose ages ranged from 12 to 87 years. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry was used for analysis of heavy metals in 9 autopsied human organs (liver, kidney, cerebrum, heart, spleen, lung, bone, hair and nail). Distribution of arsenic, nickel, selenium, lead and vanadium in the human body were almost uniform. Cadmium, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, tin and zinc were found in large quantities in the metabolic organs, whereas the concentrations of aluminum, chromium and silicon were greatest in the tissues exposed to the exterior.