The intake and excretion of lead and cadmium by the elderly

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Abstract
Metabolic balance studies for lead and cadmium were carried out in 23 healthy elderly people aged 69.7 to 85.5 yr while living in their own homes and eating self-selected diets. Mean intakes of lead and cadmium were 54.6 and 8.6 µg/day, with mean retentions of −8.7 and −1.7 µg/day, respectively. Daily dietary lead correlated (p < 0.05) with the intake of energy, nitrogen, calcium, iron, and zinc but not with manganese or copper. Dietary intake of cadmium correlated (p < 0.05) only with that of zinc and manganese. There was a highly significant (p < 0.001) inverse correlation between the percentage cadmium absorbed and body iron stores measured as serum iron, percentage iron saturation, and ferritin. Mean whole blood concentrations were 138 µg/1 for lead and 0.79 µg/1 for cadmium. The negative balances observed in these elderly people were very different from the positive balances found in a previous similar study in children.