The Mechanism of Iodine Enrichment in Groundwater from the North China Plain: Insight from Two Inland and Coastal Aquifer Sediment Boreholes

As an element relevant to human health, iodine is highly worthy of researchers’ attention, especially the mechanism of iodine migration and enrichment in groundwater systems. A total of 43 groundwater, 1 seawater, 107 sediment and 111 pore water samples from two boreholes (toward to Bohai Sea: BT, HH) were collected along a groundwater flow path at the North China Plain to investigate hydro-geochemical processes controlling groundwater iodine. High iodine groundwater (> 100 µg/L) was characterized by Na-Cl type, with high TDS values (827-2,400 mg/L) and high Cl (110–705 mg/L) and Br (416-1,180 µg/L) concentrations, which may be related to marine influence. Borehole BT and HH had pore water I concentration ranges of 1.4–132 µg/L and 3.6–830 µg/L, with high level occurred near to coastline and corresponded to ancient transgression events. The results of sequential extraction of borehole sediments indicate that the fractions of sediment inorganic iodine were mainly consist of exchangeable, carbonate and Fe-oxides associated fractions. Fe-oxides associated iodine was the main occurrence state in borehole BT far from the coastline, but high exchangeable iodine fractions (up to 92% of total extracted iodine) were observed in a high salinity borehole HH located near Bohai Bay, corresponding to the occurrence of high iodine pore water and groundwater. The analysis of iodine species indicates that iodide with strong migration ability dominated high iodine groundwater, pore water and exchangeable sediment iodine, reflecting the occurrence of adsorption/desorption processes of iodine in groundwater system. High iodine groundwater and pore water exhibited iodine enrichment relative to Cl and Br, suggests that iodine adsorbed on sediment desorbed under suitable pH and high solution ionic strength and subsequently released to pore water and aquifers. Inverse geochemical modeling stressed that ion exchange play an important role in iodine enrichment of groundwater system.

High Iodine Nutrition May Be a Risk Factor for Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis in Papillary Thyroid Cancer Patients

<b><i>Purpose:</i></b> The aim of this study was to retrospectively identify the effect of iodine on the papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) process and investigate the risk clinicopathologic characteristics of cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) for achieving a better preventive strategy of PTC. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Totally 187 patients with CLNM and 279 without CLNM (NCLNM) were enrolled, and their urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and serum iodine concentration (SIC) were measured. Logistic regressions were used to reveal the effects of iodine nutrition on the CLNM status of PTC. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroglobulin (TG) were higher in the CLNM group than in the NCLNM group. UIC and SIC were positively correlated, and both of them were correlated with TSH, free thyroxine, and TG. The proportions of UIC &#x3e;300 μg/L and of SIC &#x3e;90 μg/L were higher in the CLNM than in the NCLNM. Logistic analysis showed that SIC &#x3e;90 μg/L was an independent predictor for CLNM in PTC. Additionally, age ≥45, female, TG, multifocality, and diameter of cancer invasion &#x3e;1 cm also affected CLNM status in PTC, and their logistic regression model showed a certain diagnostic accuracy (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve = 0.72). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Relatively high iodine nutrition seemed to be a significant risk factor for the occurrence of CLNM in PTC and may promote lymphatic metastasis in PTC.

Low urinary iodine is a protective factor of central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer: a cross-sectional study

Background An abrupt increase of thyroid cancer has been witnessed paralleling the supplemented iodine intake in formerly iodine-deficient countries. And increased iodine intake has been linked to the rising incidence rate of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). However, the correlation between iodine and clinicopathological features of PTC has not been well-characterized. This study aimed to investigate the associations between iodine intake and the clinicopathological features of PTC patients. Methods Three hundred and fifty-nine PTC patients who received surgical treatment in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from May 2015 to November 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The associations between urinary iodine (UI), urinary iodine/creatinine ratio (UI/U-Cr), and the clinicopathological features of PTC were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to investigate the relationship between UI level and central lymph node metastasis (CLNM). Results There were no significant differences in UI in different groups according to the variables studied, except that patients with CLNM had higher UI level than CLNM(−) patients. No associations were found between UI/U-Cr and clinicopathological features except variant subtypes (classic/follicular). After dividing patients into high-iodine group and low-iodine group, more patients were found to have CLNM in the high-iodine group (p = 0.02). In addition, younger age, larger tumor size, and classic variant were positively correlated with CLNM (p < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that insufficient iodine intake (≤ 99 μg/L) was associated with decreased CLNM risk in PTC. And after defining insufficient iodine intake as ≤ 109 μg/L and above requirements as ≥ 190 μg/L, multivariate analysis showed that lower iodine was associated with CLNM in total population of PTC (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.31–0.91) and in PTC < 1 cm (papillary thyroid microcarcinoma, PTMC) (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21–0.87). Conclusions Low iodine was a protective factor for CLNM in papillary thyroid cancer, particularly in those < 1 cm. These results indicated that iodine may not only be an initiator of tumorigenesis, but also a promoter of the development of PTC.