Newswise — Heavy metals such as lead and cadmium are present in batteries, cosmetics, food and other things that are part of everyday life. They are toxic when they accumulate in the human organism, potentially causing several health problems, but detecting them in body fluids requires expensive equipment and a controlled laboratory environment. Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have now developed a portable sensor made of simple materials to detect heavy metals in sweat, which is easily sampled.
The research was supported by FAPESP (projects 16/01919-6 and 16/06612-6) and involved groups at the São Carlos Institutes of Physics (IFSC) and Chemistry (IQSC), as well as collaborators at the University of Munich in Germany and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.
The results are published in an article in the journal Chemosensors. "We get important information on a person's health by measuring their exposure to heavy metals. High levels of cadmium can lead to fatal problems in the airways, liver and kidneys. Lead poisoning damages the central nervous system and causes irritability, cognitive impairment, fatigue, infertility, high blood pressure in adults and delayed growth and development in children," said Paulo Augusto Raymundo Pereira, last author of the article and a researcher at IFSC-USP.
Humans eliminate…
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)