The association between multi-heavy metals exposure and lung function in a typical rural population of Northwest China.
Heavy metal exposure is acknowledged to be associated with decrease of lung function, but the relationship between metals co-exposure and lung function in rural areas of Northwest China remains unclear, particularly in an area famous for heavy metal pollution and solid fuel use. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the effects of heavy metal exposure on lung function and the potential impacts of living habit in a rural cohort of Northwest China.
The study area included five villages of two regions in Northwestern China-Gansu province. All participants were recruited from the Dongdagou-Xinglong (DDG-XL) rural cohort in the study area. Urine levels of 10 common and representative heavy metals were detected by ICP-MS, including Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Molybdenum (Mo), Cadmium (Cd), Stibium (Sb), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), and Manganese (Mn). The lung function was detected by measuring percentages of predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%) and predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1%) as well as the ratio of FEV1/FVC. We also analyzed the association between heavy metals and pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (PVD). Restricted cubic spline, logistic regression, linear regression, and bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) model were used to analyze the relationship between heavy metal exposure and lung function.
Finally, a total of 382 participants were included in this study with an average age of 56.69 ± 7.32 years, and 82.46% of them used solid fuels for heating and cooking. Single metal exposure analysis showed that the higher concentration of Hg, Mn, Sb, and lower Mo may be risk factors for PVD. We also found that FEV1% and FVC% were negatively correlated with Sb, Hg, and Mn, but positively correlated with Mo. The effect of mixed heavy metals exposure could be observed through BKMR model, through which we found the lung function decreased with the increase of heavy metal concentration. Furthermore, the males, BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 and who used solid fuels showed a higher risk of PVD when exposed to Co, Zn, and Hg.
Our results suggested that heavy metal exposure was associated with decrease of lung function regardless of single exposure or mixed exposure, particularly for Sb, Hg, Mn and those who use solid fuels.
Zheng L
，Yu Y
，Tian X
，He L
，Shan X
，Niu J
，Yan J
，Luo B
... -
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Association between mercury exposure and lung function in young adults: A prospective cohort study in Shandong, China.
Mercury has been associated with many adverse health outcomes. However, limited studies have explored the association between blood mercury concentrations and lung function.
To examine the association between blood mercury concentrations and lung function among young adults.
We conducted a prospective cohort study among 1800 college students based on the Chinese Undergraduates Cohort in Shandong, China during August 2019 and September 2020. Lung function indicators including forced vital capacity (FVC, ml), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1, ml) and peak expiratory flow (PEF, ml) were collected with a spirometers (Chestgraph Jr. HI-101, Chest M.I., Tokyo, Japan). The blood mercury concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We divided participants into low (≤25 percentiles), intermediate (25-75 percentiles), and high (≥75 percentile) subgroups according to blood mercury concentrations. The multiple linear regression model was used to examine the associations between blood mercury concentrations and lung function changes. Stratification analyses by sex and fish consumption frequency were also conducted.
The results showed that each 2-fold increase in blood mercury concentrations was significantly associated with -70.75 ml [95 % confidence interval (CI): -122.35, -19.15] change in FVC, -72.68 ml (95%CI: -120.36, -25.00) in FEV1, and -158.06 ml (95%CI: -283.77, -32.35) in PEF. The effect was more pronounced among participants with high blood mercury and male participants. Participants who consumed fish more than once a week more likely to be affected by mercury.
Our study indicated that blood mercury was significantly associated with decreased lung function in young adults. It is necessary to implement corresponding measures to reduce the effect of mercury on the respiratory system, especially for men and people who consumed fish more than once a week.
Miao J
，Feng S
，Dou S
，Ma Y
，Yang L
，Yan L
，Yu P
，Wu Y
，Ye T
，Wen B
，Lu P
，Li S
，Guo Y
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