Maynar-Mariño, Marcos, Llerena, Francisco, Bartolomé, Ignacio, Crespo, Carmen, Muñoz, Diego, Robles, María-Concepción, and Caballero, María-Jesús
Background Many substances poured out from industries can be toxic to humans and can impair physical performance. Besides, physical training may modify the body concentrations of these substances as a result of physiological adaptations. Objectives The aim of the study was to determine if different modalities of exercise might affect serum concentrations of toxic trace elements in sportsmen. Methods 80 Spanish national sportsmen were recruited before the start of their training period. All the athletes had been training regularly for the previous two years with a rigorous training target at high-level competition. 31 sedentary participants from the same geographic area formed the control group. Serum arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, cesium and lead samples were analyzed with an ICP-MS. Results Serum concentrations were higher among the sportsmen group than among the control group, being highly significant in cases of Be from 0.043 ± 0.019 to 0.074 ± 0.029 μg/L, Cs from 0.693 ± 0.305 to 1.358 ± 0.569 μg/L and Pb from 0.162 ± 0.171 to 2.375 ± 1.699 μg/L; and significant in the case of Cd from 0.046 ± 0.027 to 0.067 ± 0.059 μg/L. However, if they were separated according to different sport modalities, it was found that, although they had higher concentrations than controls, there were elements that changed their concentrations in relation to the metabolic type of activity performed. Conclusions In some cases physical exercise induces favorable adaptations to avoid environmental pollution damage. Endurance training (65–75% VO 2max ) can be considered the most effective exercise to prevent toxicity effects. However, integral-matrixes analysis are required in further research to overcome some controversial behaviors of some elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]