Abstract
Background: Cadmium, a persistent and widespread environmental pollutant, has been associated with
kidney function impairment and several diseases. Cigarettes are the dominant source of cadmium exposure
among smokers; the primary source of cadmium in non-smokers is food. We investigated sources of cadmium
exposure in a sample of healthy women.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 191 premenopausal women completed a health questionnaire and a food
frequency questionnaire. The cadmium content of spot urine samples was measured with inductivelycoupled
plasma mass spectrometry and normalized to urine creatinine content. Multivariable linear
regression was used to estimate the strength of association between smoking habits and, among nonsmokers,
usual foods consumed and urinary cadmium, adjusted for age, race, multivitamin and supplement
use, education, estimated total energy intake, and parity.
Results: Geometricmean urine creatinine-normalized cadmiumconcentration (uCd) ofwomenwith any history
of cigarette smoking was 0.43 μg/g (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38–0.48 μg/g) and 0.30 μg/g (0.27–0.33 μg/g)
among never-smokers, and increased with pack-years of smoking. Analysis of dietary data among women with
no reported history of smoking suggested that regular consumption of eggs, hot cereals, organ meats, tofu,
vegetable soups, leafy greens, green salad, and yams was associated with uCd. Consumption of tofu products
showed themost robust association with uCd; eachweekly serving of tofuwas associated with a 22% (95% CI: 11–
33%) increase in uCd. Thus, uCd was estimated to be 0.11 μg/g (95% CI: 0.06–0.15 μg/g) higher among women
who consumed any tofu than among those who consumed none.
Conclusions: Cigarette smoking is likely the most important source of cadmium exposure among smokers.
Among non-smokers, consumption of specific foods, notably tofu, is associated with increased urine cadmium
concentration.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971100074X
Translated title of the contribution | Sources of cadmium exposure among healthy premenopausal women |
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Original language | English |
Pages (from-to) | 1632 - 1637 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Science of The Total Environment |
Volume | 409 (9) |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |