According to the present level of knowledge and a given essentiality of this ultratrace element, V deficiency in flora, fauna and man need not be reckoned with in practice. It seems that there is no danger of a V overload via foodstuffs in Central Europe. However, the V emissions due to burning V-rich fossile fuels must be taken into consideration internationally.

Long-term ecological or anthropogenic exposure of humans to chromium via the food chain or work place can lead to chronic diseases or further to mutagenic or cancerogenic changes. Nutritive intake of chromium is so low at the moment that, in spite of availability exceeding requirement there is no danger in the case of intestinal intake. A modest individual increase in intake of this element can only occur via foodstuffs or drinking water from chromium exposed private gardens. Chromium-sensitive men must avoid contact with this element and minimise their intake in order to slow down the occurrence of chromium allergies once their body stores are full. Chromium intake of German adults with mixed diet decreased between 1988 and 1996. The reduced nutritive intake shows that the measures taken to avoid the anthropogenic exposures of the environment are beginning to take effect. Chromium deficiency does not need to be reckoned with German adults. Without expectation, the chromium intake of both sexes was > 25 mug:day averaged over a week. The individual basic requirement is indicated as < 20 <mu>g/day. The chromium intake of German adults is below the limit value of 250 mug/day, by the WHO, but it is astonishingly high, at least for chromium sensitive men (and women).

Mice (Clethrionomys glareolus, Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus sylvaticus, Microtus arvalis), the shrew Sorex araneus and some invertebrates (earthworm, field grasshopper, shell-less snail, Bourgogne snail) were sampled in the vicinity of a former phosphate fertiliser plant (Steudnitz) and in control areas in Thuringia/Germany. The industrial polluted site was found to be a strontium and cadmium rich area. The cadmium is of anthropogenic origin and the strontium is of natural origin. All animals of the polluted area showed increased levels of cadmium in the whole body substance with the highest amounts of 6.3 mg Cd/kg dry matter ire the common shrew in comparison to 1.0 mg Cd/kg in control animals. In the literature nothing is known about the strontium content of small mammals and invertebrates. Mice and shrews from both polluted and control areas exhibited strontium concentrations from 10 to 143 mg/kg with significantly higher values from all animals caught in the vicinity of Steudnitz. Shell-less snails contained about 400 mg/kg in comparison to 146 mg/kg for the animals from the unexposed area.

Compared to control goats with 300 mu g Cd/kg dry matter ration, the cadmium-poor nutrition of female goats with < 15 mu g Cd/kg semisynthetic ration and an at least fivefold intrauterine depletion of the offspring induced muscular asthenia which was overcome by the administration of the control ration via pharynx probe. The milk of control-and cadmium-deficient goats was systematically investigated on the 1st 14th, 28th and 56th day of lactation over 10 generations. It was demonstrated that the animals with cadmium-poor nutrition produced a 10% ash-, calcium-, magnesium-, iron- and zinc-richer milk. The differences between control and cadmium-deficient goats were significant at the different stages of lactation. In contrast to this result, cadmium-deficient goats produced significantly copper-poorer milk whose copper content reached < 50% of that of control goats. The manganese content in the milk of both groups did not differ. The dry matter, zinc and copper content in the milk decreased significantly with the increasing length of lactation (14th to 56th day of lactation) whereas, as a rule, its ash, calcium, magnesium and iron content increased significantly. Its manganese content was only insignificantly varied by the stage of lactation. The higher macro and trace element excretion of the goats with cadmium-poor rations as well as the reduced zinc and copper secretion via milk are important for the explanation of the deficiency symptoms in the case of cadmium-poor nutrition. Astonishingly. the cadmium-poor nutrition reduced the copper content in the milk in a similar way as the oral offer of 75 mg Cd/kg ration dry matter.