Blood, Urine, and Sweat (BUS) Study: Monitoring and Elimination of Bioaccumulated Toxic Elements Stephen J. Genuis • Detlef Birkholz • Ilia Rodushkin • Sanjay Beesoon Received: 1 July 2010 / Accepted: 27 September 2010 / Published online: 6 November 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract There is limited understanding of the toxic- okinetics of bioaccumulated toxic elements and their methods of excretion from the human body. This study was designed to assess the concentration of various toxic ele- ments in three body fluids: blood, urine and sweat. Blood, urine, and sweat were collected from 20 individuals (10 healthy participants and 10 participants with various health problems) and analyzed for approximately 120 various compounds, including toxic elements. Toxic elements were found to differing degrees in each of blood, urine, and sweat. Serum levels for most metals and metalloids were comparable with those found in other studies in the sci- entific literature. Many toxic elements appeared to be preferentially excreted through sweat. Presumably stored in tissues, some toxic elements readily identified in the per- spiration of some participants were not found in their serum. Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of many toxic elements from the human body. Biomonitoring for toxic elements through blood and/ or urine testing may underestimate the total body burden of such toxicants. Sweat analysis should be considered as an additional method for monitoring bioaccumulation of toxic elements in humans. The interaction between humans and chemical compounds may be described as a love–hate relationship, a liaison that probably dates back to the dawn of civilization. Through- out recorded history, chemical preparations have been used as a means to effect healing and enhance beauty but also as a means to induce harm. Hippocrates, sometimes referred to as the ‘‘father of modern medicine,’’ wrote the Hippo- cratic Oath in response to the recognition that some med- ical practitioners were being bribed to poison rivals with chemical potions. Paracelsus, oft called the ‘‘father of toxicology,’’ subsequently introduced the idea that illness may be the result of a chemical imbalance requiring res- toration through therapeutic chemical intervention. Through the centuries, humankind has endeavored to tame existing chemicals and to develop new agents with specific properties in a ceaseless quest for comfort, convenience, and optimal health. Since the Second World War tens of thousands of syn- thetic chemicals have been unleashed into the environment along with increasing emission of potentially toxic metal elements and petrochemical products. Widespread aware- ness of potential toxicity associated with exposure to some noxious chemicals, however, has resulted in concern and disdain in some circles for the chemical revolution that has descended on humanity in the last half-century. Although public sentiment in general tends to view naturally occur- ring chemicals as safe and man-made chemicals as poten- tially dangerous, some naturally occurring compounds, including the toxic element arsenic found in soil sediments, can be lethal at high concentrations, whereas judicious use of some man-made pharmaceuticals can be life saving. S. J. Genuis (&) Á D. Birkholz University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada e-mail: sgenuis@ualberta.ca D. Birkholz e-mail: Deib.Birkholz@ALSEnviro.com I. Rodushkin Lulea ˚ University of Technology, Lulea ˚, Sweden e-mail: Ilia.Rodushkin@alsglobal.com S. Beesoon Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada e-mail: sbeesoon@yahoo.co.uk 123 Arch Environ Contam Toxicol (2011) 61:344–357 DOI 10.1007/s00244-010-9611-5