人类不断暴露于各种重金属,包括铜,铁,镉,还有砷,因为它们是人类最常遇到的环境污染物和可能导致人类健康危害和肝损伤的工业污染物之一,因此专门选择用于当前分析。到目前为止,这些问题评估不佳,仍然是一个争论的问题,也是由于结果不一致。实际报告的目的是彻底分析这四种重金属对人类健康的正面和负面影响。铜和铁被正确地视为维持人类健康所必需的污染物元素,因为它们是重要的酶和代谢途径的一部分。健康个体通过各种基于遗传的机制来维持细胞铜和铁的稳态,从而避免或减少由于过量的这些金属连续进入人体而导致的有害肝脏和器官损伤。在一些有基因畸变的人类中,然而,由于过度积累的铜可导致Wilson病和大量铁沉积导致血色素沉着病,因此可能会导致肝脏和器官损伤。在分子水平上,某些重金属的毒性可以追溯到HaberWeiss和Fenton反应,涉及在氧化应激过程中形成的活性氧。另一方面,不能提供镉和砷的细胞稳态,导致其终生在肝脏和其他器官中的过度沉积。因此,镉和砷代表健康危害,导致更高的残疾调整寿命和增加死亡率由于癌症和非癌症疾病。未知原因,然而,在暴露于镉和砷的人类中很少观察到肝损伤。总之,铜和铁对大多数人的健康有益,除了那些患有威尔逊病或血色素沉着症的人,有通过自由基形成肝损伤的风险,虽然镉和砷没有任何有益的影响,但对人类健康有潜在危害,重点是增加残疾的可能性和癌症的风险。主要努力应集中在减少有害重金属的工业排放上。
Humans are continuously exposed to various heavy metals including copper, iron, cadmium, and arsenic, which were specifically selected for the current analysis because they are among the most frequently encountered environmental mankind and industrial pollutants potentially causing human health hazards and liver injury. So far, these issues were poorly assessed and remained a matter of debate, also due to inconsistent results. The aim of the actual report is to thoroughly analyze the positive as well as negative effects of these four heavy metals on human health. Copper and iron are correctly viewed as pollutant elements essential for maintaining human health because they are part of important enzymes and metabolic pathways. Healthy individuals are prepared through various genetically based mechanisms to maintain cellular copper and iron homeostasis, thereby circumventing or reducing hazardous liver and organ injury due to excessive amounts of these metals continuously entering the human body. In a few humans with gene aberration, however, liver and organ injury may develop because excessively accumulated copper can lead to Wilson disease and substantial iron deposition to hemochromatosis. At the molecular level, toxicities of some heavy metals are traced back to the Haber Weiss and Fenton reactions involving reactive oxygen species formed in the course of oxidative stress. On the other hand, cellular homeostasis for cadmium and arsenic cannot be provided, causing their life-long excessive deposition in the liver and other organs. Consequently, cadmium and arsenic represent health hazards leading to higher disability-adjusted life years and increased mortality rates due to cancer and non-cancer diseases. For unknown reasons, however, liver injury in humans exposed to cadmium and arsenic is rarely observed. In sum, copper and iron are good for the human health of most individuals except for those with Wilson disease or hemochromatosis at risk of liver injury through radical formation, while cadmium and arsenic lack any beneficial effects but rather are potentially hazardous to human health with a focus on increased disability potential and risk for cancer. Primary efforts should focus on reducing the industrial emission of hazardous heavy metals.