DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2015.v03i04.014

Pages: 397-400

Metals in tobacco smoke are of public health concern because of their potential toxicity and carcinogenicity. This is a case-control study carried out in Khartoum State from November to March 2015. Three ml of venous blood were collected from study population; serum cobalt and chromium were estimated using absorption spectrophotometer. The study results revealed that the mean age of smokers was (26.4±4.1) year and for non smokers was (25.7±3.0) year. The mean ± SD of serum cobalt and chromium in smokers respectively were (0.79±.23 and 0.09±.0) µg/L. The mean ±SD of serum cobalt and chromium in non-smokers were (.09±.05 and.2 ±.10)µg/L respectively. There was a highly significant difference in serum chromium between smokers and non-smokers (p value 0.000, <0.05).The mean of serum chromium was significantly lower 8.8 fold in non-smokers compared to smoker’s group. Serum cobalt was significantly lower 3.5 times in no-smokers compared to smokers group. There was positive correlation between serum cobalt and smoking duration (r= -0.471, p=0.001).There was a significant relationship between smokers duration of smoking and no. of cigarettes per day and the serum cobalt level (p< 0.05).Duration of smoking is useful as apredictor of smokers for serum cobalt. This study concluded that; levels of serum chromium and serum cobalt are increased in cigarette smokers. The increased in level of serum cobalt affected by the duration of smoking, but not affected by number of cigarettes and the difference in age.