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A 30-year follow-up study in a former cadmium-polluted area of Japan: the relationship between cadmium exposure and β2-microglobulin in the urine of Japanese people

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Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant. Long-term exposure to Cd may lead to adverse health effects in humans. Our epidemiological studies showed that urinary Cd (U-Cd) concentrations increased from 2008 through 2014, although they decreased from 1986 through 2008. The aim of this study was to elucidate the long-term effects of the changing trend of cadmium exposure levels (U-Cd) on residents’ renal function within 30 years after Cd exposure ceased. In 2016, urine samples were collected from each subject by visiting 20 elderly Japanese people (9 females and 11 males) living in the Kakehashi River basin, a previously Cd-polluted area in Ishikawa, Japan. The geometric means of the β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) and urinary Cd (U-Cd) continued to increase from 2014 until 2016. Furthermore, Cd concentration and β2-MG in urine were still higher than those in the non-polluted areas in Japan. Multivariate linear regression was performed to associate β2-MG (dependent variable) and U-Cd with sex and age (independent variables). Significant correlations were found among age, U-Cd, and β2-MG, and these were clearer in females than in males. In summary, we propose that three decades after Cd exposure ceased, age is associated with β2-MG more strongly than Cd for bodily impact. Moreover, renal tubular dysfunction is irreversible and worsens after exposure to Cd, with females being more sensitive to exposure.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Materials availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Cd:

Cadmium

β2-MG:

Urinary β2-microglobulin

B-Cd:

Blood cadmium

R-Cd:

Rice cadmium

U-Cd:

Urinary cadmium

GMs:

Geometric means

GSDs:

Geometric standard deviations

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Funding

This research was funded by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Xian Liang Sun, Hoang Duc Phuc, and Rie Okamoto equally contributed to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, and The First Affiliated Hospital, Huzhou University, 759 2nd Ring East Road, Huzhou, 313000, China

    Xian Liang Sun

  2. School of Medicine, Jiaxing University, 118 Jiahang Road, Jiaxing, 314001, China

    Xian Liang Sun

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-0942, Japan

    Xian Liang Sun, Hoang Duc Phuc, Rie Okamoto, Teruhiko Kido, Nguyen Thi Phuong Oanh, Le Thai Anh & Akie Ichimori

  4. Hanoi Center for Control Disease, No. 70 Nguyen Chi Thanh, Dong Da, Ha Noi, Vietnam

    Hoang Duc Phuc

  5. Faculty of Pharmacy, Lac Hong University, No. 10, Huynh Van Nghe, Bien Hoa, Dong Nai, Vietnam

    Ho Dung Manh

  6. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuoku, Chiba, Japan

    Kazuhiro Nogawa & Yasushi Suwazono

  7. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan

    Hideaki Nakagawa

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  1. Xian Liang Sun
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Contributions

Xian Liang Sun, Hoang Duc Phuc, and Rie Okamoto: Conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, and writing (original draft). Teruhiko Kido: Conceptualization, resources, writing (review and editing), supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition. Nguyen Thi Phuong Oanh, Ho Dung Manh, Le Thai Anh, and Akie Ichimori: Writing (review and editing). Kazuhiro Nogawa, Yasushi Suwazono, and Hideaki Nakagawa: Conceptualization, resources, writing (review and editing), and project administration. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teruhiko Kido.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

All participants in this study were volunteers, and personal information was kept confidential. This research was approved by the Kanazawa University bioethics committee (approval no. 512).

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Not applicable.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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Sun, X.L., Phuc, H.D., Okamoto, R. et al. A 30-year follow-up study in a former cadmium-polluted area of Japan: the relationship between cadmium exposure and β2-microglobulin in the urine of Japanese people. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 23079–23085 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23818-8

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