Sauna, sweat and science II–do we sweat what we drink?

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Inspired by a previous ‘Sauna, sweat and science’ study [Zech et al. Isot Environ Health Stud. 2015;51(3):439–447] and out of curiosity and enthusiasm for stable isotope and sauna research we aimed at answering the question ‘do we sweat (isotopically) what we drink’? We, therefore, pulse-labelled five test persons in a sauna experiment with beverages that were 2H-enriched at about +25,600 ‰. Sweat samples were collected during six sauna rounds and the hydrogen isotope composition δ2Hsweat was determined using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Before pulse labelling, δ2Hsweat–reflecting by approximation body water–ranged from –32 to –22 ‰. This is ∼35 ‰ enriched compared to usual mid-European drinking water and can be explained with hydrogen-bearing food as well as with the respiratory loss of 2H-depleted vapour. The absence of a clearly detectable 2H pulse in sweat after pulse labelling and δ2Hsweat results of ≤+250 ‰ due to a fast 2H equilibration with body water are moreover a clearly negative answer to our research question also in a short-term consideration. Given that the recovery of the tracer based on an isotope mass balance calculation is clearly below 100 %, we finally answer the question ‘where did the rest of the tracer go?’.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)394-403
Number of pages10
JournalIsotopes in environmental and health studies
Volume55
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jul 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 31257926

Keywords

Keywords

  • Body water, hydrogen-2, sauna, stabile isotope tracer technique, sweat, urine