Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between beta-galactosidase activity in urine, in serum and urinary N-acetyl-beta-glucosarminidase activity as an early indicator of renal effect and mercurT concentration in urine and blood, reflecting the intensity of exposure to or the amount of body burden of mercury. This study was carried out among 70 workers exposed to mercury vapor and 63 non-exposed workers as a reference. The results were as follows ; 1. The mean concentration of urinary mercury (43.5 microgram/1) in exposed subjects was about nine times higher than that of non-exposed subjects, but the mean values of blood mercury were not different from each other 2. The mean values of beta-galactosidase activity in urine (119.7micromoleMU/h/g creatinine) and in blood (73.7 moIMU/H/l) of mercury-exposed subjects were significantly higher than those of non-exposed subjects. 3. In mercury-exposed subjects, beta-galactosidase activities in urine (r=0.38, p<0.01) and in serum (r=0.26, p<0.05) were correlated to urinary mercury concentration, but not to blood mercury concentration. The urinary excretion of beta-galactosidase activity was closely associated with urinary mercury concentration in the result of the multiple regression analysis. 4. The urinary beta-galactosidase activity in exposed subjects increased as the urinary mercury increased, and in the exposed subjects with more than 50microgram/1 of urinary mercury was highly related to urinary beta-galactosidase activity(r=0.47, p<0.05). 5. Among exposed subjects with more than 50microgram/l of urinary mercury, 20.0% of them showed abnormal value of urinary beta-galactosidase activity.