Heavy metals, chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The concentrations of lead in blood and of cadmium and mercury in kidney tissue were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry in cases in SIDS and a control group containing cases of known causes of death. SIDS cases were split into groups from urban and rural areas and areas highly polluted with lead and zinc (sites of lead and zinc works). Neither the concentration of lead in blood (median 26.5 to 50.0 micrograms/l), nor the concentration of cadmium (median 24.0 to 44.0 micrograms/kg ww) or mercury (43.0 to 69.0 micrograms/kg ww) showed significant differences between the groups. In addition the concentrations of persistent chlorohydrocarbons (hexachlorbenzene; alpha, beta and gamma hexachlorcyclohexane; heptachlorepoxide; dieldrine; total DDT; polychlorinated biphenyls) were measured in subcutaneous fatty tissue in SIDS cases from rural and urban areas and in a control group. These substances also showed no significant concentration differences in cases of SIDS.