Table 1.
Metals detected in the saliva, limit of detection (LOD) and distribution.
| Metal | Salivary metal tertiles (ppb) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOD | Minimum | 33rd percentile | Median | 66th percentile | Maximum | |
| Essential | ||||||
| Cobalt | 0.1 | 0.23 | 0.42 | 0.55 | 0.64 | 1.87 |
| Copper | 10 | < LOD | 27.42 | 37.28 | 52.79 | 394.79 |
| Manganese | 5 | < LOD | 10.74 | 14.46 | 21.76 | 94.37 |
| Molybdenum | 0.2 | 0.24 | 0.82 | 0.95 | 1.20 | 4.49 |
| Zinc | 30 | 97.81 | 265.72 | 303.69 | 382.77 | 10,198.95 |
| Other heavy metals | ||||||
| Antimony | 0.1 | 0.16 | 2.43 | 2.73 | 3.40 | 13.33 |
| Arsenic | 0.2 | < LOD | < LOD | 0.14 | 0.25 | 2.65 |
| Barium | 0.5 | 2.17 | 5.58 | 15.71 | 29.24 | 69.86 |
| Beryllium | 0.5 | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | 2.49 |
| Cadmium | 0.5 | < LOD | 0.30 | 0.49 | 0.58 | 7.16 |
| Cesium | 0.2 | < LOD | 0.44 | 0.50 | 0.66 | 1.98 |
| Lead | 0.1 | 0.82 | 2.64 | 4.12 | 7.25 | 252.07 |
| Mercury | 0.1 | < LOD | < LOD | 0.33 | 1.03 | 446.90 |
| Platinum | 0.1 | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | 0.29 |
| Thallium | 0.5 | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | 1.74 |
| Tin | 0.5 | < LOD | 0.77 | 1.62 | 3.08 | 195.03 |
| Uranium | 0.1 | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | < LOD | 0.51 |
| Some evidence of physiological function | ||||||
| Chromium | 0.2 | 0.73 | 1.49 | 1.81 | 2.26 | 10.78 |
| Nickel | 2 | 3.306 | 6.63 | 7.83 | 8.71 | 26.07 |
| Tungsten | 0.1 | < LOD | 0.11 | 0.20 | 0.25 | 19.34 |
| Vanadium | 0.1 | < LOD | 0.20 | 0.36 | 0.41 | 1.60 |
Stimulated saliva samples were obtained from 13 children age 7–17 and 48 adults aged 18–45 individuals from the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia Study I.