Urinary chromium excretion and atherosclerotic manifestations in two Finnish male populations.

The urinary exretion of chromium was studied for relationships to atherosclerotic diseases in two rural Finnish male populations, aged 55 to 74; one from eastern Finland, the other from the southwestern part of the country. A 10-year follow-up had shown a particularly high mortality from coronary heart disease in the eastern area where the concentrations of chromium in the drinking water were lower than in the western area. The 24-hr urinary excretions of chromium of the two populations were markedly low (east, mean +/- SEM, 3.60 +/- 0.15 microgram; west, 3.74 +/- 0.13 microgram), suggesting a suboptimal chromium intake in both populations. No consistent differences were found in urinary chromium excretions between groups with atherosclerotic diseases and reference groups. The role of low chromium intake in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis deserves further study.