Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jtemb Epidemiology The influence of the place of residence, smoking and alcohol consumption on bone mineral content in the facial skeleton Maciej Sikora a,b , Irena Baranowska-Bosiacka b, ⁎ , Ewa Rębacz-Maron c , Tomasz Olszowski d , Dariusz Chlubek b a Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital of the Ministry of Interior, Wojska Polskiego 51, 25-375 Kielce, Poland b Department of Biochemistry and Medical Chemistry, Pomeranian Medical University, Powst. Wlkp. 72, 70-111 Szczecin, Poland c Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, University of Szczecin, Wąska 13, 71-415, Szczecin, Poland d Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Pomeranian Medical University, Powst. Wlkp. 72, 70-111 Szczecin, Poland ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Environmental factors Facial skeleton Trace elements Tobacco smoking Alcohol consumption ABSTRACT Background: Environmental factors exert their influence on the living organism throughout ontogeny. More and more often, researchers find correlations between specific environmental factors and the so-called diseases of affluence. Deficits and excess of essential elements also leave their mark on the skeleton. Aim: To investigate the influence of alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and place of residence, according to sex and calendar age, on the concentrations of micro-, macro- and toxic elements in human facial bones. Material & methods: Patients undergoing surgical treatment were examined for the mineral content in the collected bone material. The bone contents of the following elements were determined: Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, Fe, Zn, Mo, Ba, Mn, Li, Be, Co, B, Sr, Cr, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Al, depending on the type of facial bone, sex, calendar age, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and place of residence. Results: Sex and alcohol consumption showed the highest degree of correlation with the content of the mi- nerals included in the study. Alcohol drinking was found to exert the strongest influence on women’s bodies, the highest number of statistically significant correlations was demonstrated between the content of minerals in the examined bones and alcohol drinking in women. Other factors included in the analysis had a different impact on men and women, the concentrations of elements included in the study differed depending on age, tobacco smoking and place of residence. Conclusions: The observed differences in the element mineral composition of the human facial skeleton may be explained by developmental specifics and functional adaptation. However, general biological characteristics (sex, age), environmental factors (place of residence), as well as smoking and alcohol use may exert significant influence on the concentrations of micro-, macro- and toxic elements in particular regions of the human skeleton. The impact of environmental factors is a very complex phenomenon, which may be stronger or more subtle, leaving its mark on the bone structure. The environmental factors included in the analysis had a different in- fluence on men than women. 1. Introduction Epidemiological data and animal studies indicate that environ- mental factors, particularly those associated with exposure to heavy metals, contribute to the risk of developing many diseases [1]. Exposure to environmental factors, especially in industrial areas, may be linked to the increased prevalence of numerous diseases of affluence and au- toimmune disorders [2], Parkinson’s disease [3,4], diabetes [5,6], car- diovascular disease [7,8], hypertension [6], asthma [9], and even obesity [10]. Simultaneously, the vast multitude of different factors influencing the accumulation of minerals in the human body make it impossible to examine the influence of individual environmental factor and describe it in detail. The osseous tissue (in the maxillofacial area also) is actively and functionally adapted to static and dynamic loads acting upon it. These adaptations are manifested as changes in bone density, primarily in the content of minerals, and in the concentration and composition of ele- ments taking part in the mineral segment construction. At the same https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2018.10.012 Received 1 August 2018; Received in revised form 7 October 2018; Accepted 9 October 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: sikora-maciej@wp.pl (M. Sikora), irena.bosiacka@pum.edu.pl (I. Baranowska-Bosiacka), rebae@univ.szczecin.pl (E. Rębacz-Maron), tomasz.olszowski@pum.edu.pl (T. Olszowski), dchlubek@pum.edu.pl (D. Chlubek). Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 51 (2019) 115–122 0946-672X/ © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. T