Abstract
Exposure to metal pollution can be caused from inhalation, ingestion, or absorption from air, water, or food. Chronic exposure to trace amounts of metals can lead to high blood pressure, or hypertension, and other chronic diseases. The rationale of our study was to determine if there was a correlation between nineteen forms of urinary metal concentrations and high blood pressure, defined as ≥ 130 mm Hg systolic or ≥ 80 mm Hg diastolic, in the adult US population, to understand the possible impacts of metal exposure on humans. Five types of urinary arsenic species and fourteen types of urinary metals were studied to examine their correlation with high blood pressure. We used the dataset from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the study. A specialized complex survey design analysis package was used in analyzing the NHANES data. We used pairwise t tests and the logit regression models to study the correlation between urinary arsenic (five types) and urinary metal (fourteen types) concentrations and high blood pressure. The total study population analyzed included 4037 adults aged 20 years and older, of whom 57.9% of males and 51.7% of females had high blood pressure. Urinary arsenous acid (OR: 2.053, 95% CI: 1.045, 4.035), tin (OR: 1.983, 95% CI: 1.169, 3.364), and cesium (OR: 2.176, 95% CI: 1.013, 4.675) were associated with increased odds of high blood pressure. The other four types of urinary arsenic and twelve types of urinary metals were not associated with high blood pressure. Our results determined that exposure to environmental metals such as arsenous acid, tin, and cesium can be associated with high blood pressure. Further investigation is suggested to support our findings.
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The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the NHANES repository provided by the CDC to the public [https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/ContinuousNhanes/Default.aspx?BeginYear=2015] (CDC/National Center for Health Statistics 2020).
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HHR conceptualized the study and contributed to the introduction and discussion. SMM conducted the data analysis and contributed to the drafting of the paper. DN contributed to the methods section and drafting of the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Not applicable. This study uses only secondary data analyses without any personal information identified using statistical data from the NHANES website; no further ethical approval for conducting the present study is required.
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Rahman, H.H., Niemann, D. & Munson-McGee, S.H. Environmental exposure to metals and the risk of high blood pressure: a cross-sectional study from NHANES 2015–2016. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 531–542 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15726-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15726-0