Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Feb;110(2):199-206.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2009.12.004. Epub 2010 Jan 8.

Cadmium exposure in association with history of stroke and heart failure

Junenette L Peters  1 , Todd S Perlstein, Melissa J Perry, Eileen McNeely, Jennifer Weuve
Affiliations

Cadmium exposure in association with history of stroke and heart failure

Junenette L Peters et al. Environ Res. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Background: It is unclear whether environmental cadmium exposure is associated with cardiovascular disease, although recent data suggest associations with myocardial infarction and peripheral arterial disease.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of measured cadmium exposure with stroke and heart failure (HF) in the general population.

Methods: We analyzed data from 12,049 participants, aged 30 years and older, in the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for whom information was available on body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and socio-demographic characteristics.

Results: At their interviews, 492 persons reported a history of stroke, and 471 a history of HF. After adjusting for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, a 50% increase in blood cadmium corresponded to a 35% increased odds of prevalent stroke [OR: 1.35; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12-1.65] and a 50% increase in urinary cadmium corresponded to a 9% increase in prevalent stroke [OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.00-1.19]. This association was higher among women [OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.11-1.72] than men [OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 0.93-1.79] (p-value for interaction=0.05). A 50% increase in blood cadmium corresponded to a 48% increased odds of prevalent HF [OR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.17-1.87] and a 50% increase in urinary cadmium corresponded to a 12% increase in prevalent HF [OR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03-1.20], with no difference in sex-specific associations.

Conclusions: Environmental exposure to cadmium was associated with significantly increased stroke and heart failure prevalence. Cadmium exposure may increase these important manifestations of cardiovascular disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The relation of quartiles of a) blood and b) urinary cadmium (with model adjusted for urinary creatinine) to the risk of prevalent stroke. Models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, poverty income ratio, education, BMI, smoking status, cotinine levels, and alcohol consumption. Urinary cadmium was collected in a subsample (n=3,909). OR = odds ratio.
Figure 1
Figure 1
The relation of quartiles of a) blood and b) urinary cadmium (with model adjusted for urinary creatinine) to the risk of prevalent stroke. Models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, poverty income ratio, education, BMI, smoking status, cotinine levels, and alcohol consumption. Urinary cadmium was collected in a subsample (n=3,909). OR = odds ratio.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The relation of quartiles of a) blood and b) urinary cadmium (with model adjusted for urinary creatinine) to the risk of prevalent heart failure. Models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, poverty income ratio, education, BMI, smoking status, cotinine levels, and alcohol consumption. Urinary cadmium was collected in a subsample (n=3,898). OR = odds ratio.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The relation of quartiles of a) blood and b) urinary cadmium (with model adjusted for urinary creatinine) to the risk of prevalent heart failure. Models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, poverty income ratio, education, BMI, smoking status, cotinine levels, and alcohol consumption. Urinary cadmium was collected in a subsample (n=3,898). OR = odds ratio.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Cadmium. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service; 2008.
    1. Bahrami H, Kronmal R, Bluemke DA, Olson J, Shea S, Liu K, et al. Differences in the incidence of congestive heart failure by ethnicity: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(19):2138–2145. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barr DB, Wilder LC, Caudill SP, Gonzalez AJ, Needham LL, Pirkle JL. Urinary creatinine concentrations in the U.S. population: implications for urinary biologic monitoring measurements. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113(2):192–200. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhatnagar A. Environmental cardiology: studying mechanistic links between pollution and heart disease. Circ Res. 2006;99(7):692–705. - PubMed
    1. Elliott P, Arnold R, Cockings S, Eaton N, Jarup L, Jones J, et al. Risk of mortality, cancer incidence, and stroke in a population potentially exposed to cadmium. Occup Environ Med. 2000;57(2):94–97. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms