Journal of Nutrition and Health

The Korean Nutrition Society (한국영양학회)
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The association of heavy metals in blood, fish consumption frequency, and risk of cardiovascular diseases among Korean adults: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008-2010)

국민건강영양조사를 이용한 성인의 혈중 중금속 농도와 생선 섭취 및 심혈관 질환과의 관련성-국민건강영양조사 (2008~2010년)

  • Shin, Ji-Ye (Department of Nutritional Science and Food Management, Ewha Womans University) ;
  • Kim, Ji-Myung (Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Hanbuk University) ;
  • Kim, Yu-Ri (Department of Nutritional Science and Food Management, Ewha Womans University)
  • 신지예 (이화여자대학교 식품영양학과) ;
  • 김지명 (한북대학교 식품영양학과) ;
  • 김유리 (이화여자대학교 식품영양학과)
  • Received : 2012.03.04
  • Accepted : 2012.07.17
  • Published : 2012.08.30
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Abstract

Limited studies are available concerning the effect of heavy metal exposure on cardiovascular diseases. As environmental pollution increases, food contamination, including heavy metal contamination of fish, also increases. However, researches based on the intake of heavy metals, cardiovascular disease, and fish intakes are inconclusive. We assessed an association of heavy metal exposure with cardiovascular disease and fish intake in a nationally representative group of general Korean adults. We used data from the combined 2008-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), and analyzed the data of 5,139 Koreans who participated in KNHANES. All participants were older than 20 years, and were diagnosed with stroke, ischemic heart disease, or hypertension. The mean blood cadmium, lead concentration, and mercury concentration of subjects were $1.07{\pm}0.01{\mu}g/L$, $2.49{\pm}0.02{\mu}g/dL$, and $5.19{\pm}0.08{\mu}g/L$, respectively. We used the survey logistic regression model to account for the complex sample design of the cardiovascular disease risk in order to estimate the odds ratios (OR). After adjusting for age, education, income, alcohol, smoking, and BMI, the increase of serum cadmium in blood was associated with the increase in the prevalence of hypertension. Further, the increase in blood cadmium concentration was associated with the increase of both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Although higher fish intakes were significantly associated with higher blood mercury concentration (p for trend < 0.0001), fish intakes did not affect either blood cadmium or lead concentration. Comparing the highest fish intake group with the lowest intake group, the OR of hypertension was 0.31 (95% CI: 0.19-0.59) in the crude model for total fish. However, these associations were no longer significant after the adjustment for potential confounding factors. In conclusion, cadmium in blood was associated with an increased risk of hypertension in the general Korean adult population. However, we found no evidence of a clear relationship between cardiovascular disease and frequency of fish consumption.

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