Excretion of Vitamin C in Sweat

Abstract

ON the Witwatersrand gold mines, where the Bantu mine labourers work under hot humid conditions, cases of scurvy and sub-scurvy occur with some frequency, despite the fact that the diet provided has been shown to contain adequate amounts of vitamin C (some 20–30 mgm. daily). The explanation given is that the high energy requirement increases utilization of the vitamin. However, on testing sweat samples collected from recruits undergoing a 'heat tolerance' test under conditions approaching those encountered underground (shovelling gravel at 97° F. dry and 96° F. wet bulb for one hour in a surface chamber), it was found that sweat reduced indophenol dye under conditions regarded as specific for the vitamin¹.