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. 2016 May;219(3):261-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2016.01.005. Epub 2016 Jan 28.

Urinary and blood cadmium and lead and kidney function: NHANES 2007-2012

Melanie C Buser  1 , Susan Z Ingber  1 , Nathan Raines  1 , David A Fowler  2 , Franco Scinicariello  3
Affiliations

Urinary and blood cadmium and lead and kidney function: NHANES 2007-2012

Melanie C Buser et al. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2016 May.

Abstract

Background: Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are widespread environmental contaminants that are known nephrotoxins. However, their nephrotoxic effects at low-environmental exposure levels are debated.

Objective: We examined the association of blood Pb (B-Pb), blood Cd (B-Cd), urinary Pb (U-Pb) and urinary Cd (U-Cd) with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urinary albumin (ALB).

Methods: We used multivariate linear regression to analyze the association between B-Pb, B-Cd, U-Pb, and U-Cd with eGFR and ALB in adult participants (≥20 years of age) in NHANES 2007-2012. The dataset was limited to NHANES individuals with both blood and urinary metal measurements.

Results: We found a statistically significant inverse association between eGFR and B-Cd and statistically significant positive associations between eGFR and both U-Cd and U-Pb, as well as statistically significant associations between ALB and the 3rd and 4th quartiles of U-Cd.

Conclusions: The inverse association between eGFR and B-Cd, in conjunction with positive associations between eGFR and ALB with U-Cd, suggest that U-Cd measurement at low levels of exposure may result from changes in renal excretion of Cd due to kidney function and protein excretion. However, renal effects such as hyperfiltration from Cd-mediated kidney damage or creatinine-specific Cd effects cannot be excluded with this cross-sectional design.

Keywords: Albuminuria; Blood cadmium; Blood lead; Estimated glomerular filtration rate; Urinary cadmium; Urinary lead.

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