Kidneys seem unaffected by uranium-tainted water

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study based in Finland that examined people living in an area where wells are contaminated with uranium found no direct toxic effects on the kidneys from this uranium exposure.

However, an increase in blood pressure may be an indirect effect, researchers at STUK-Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Helsinki report in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Dr. Paivi Kurttio and colleagues measured uranium exposure in 95 men and 98 women who drank well water for an average of 16 years. Of these, 55 percent drank water from wells with uranium levels exceeding the World Health Organization maximum of 15 micrograms per liter

The researchers also found that 34 percent of the subjects ingested uranium levels that exceeded the minimal risk level of 2 micrograms per kilograms of body weight per day.

The team confirmed that uranium levels in hair and nails were good indicators of uranium exposure.

Even at relatively high exposures, there was no evidence of an adverse effect of uranium on the kidneys, according to ten measures of kidney toxicity.

The only effect seen among those exposed to high uranium levels was a statistically significant increase in glucose excretion in the urine, and an increase in the upper reading of blood pressure -- but this did not reach levels indicating clinical hypertension, the team reports.

SOURCE: American Journal of Kidney Diseases, June 2006.