Associations of cadmium and lead exposure with leukocyte telomere length: findings from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002.

ABSTRACT: Cadmium and lead are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that might increase risks of cardiovascular disease and other aging-related diseases, but their relationships with leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of cellular aging, are poorly understood. In experimental studies, they have been shown to induce telomere shortening, but no epidemiologic study to date has examined their associations with LTL in the general population. We examined associations of blood lead and cadmium (n = 6,796) and urine cadmium (n = 2,093) levels with LTL among a nationally representative sample of US adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002). The study population geometric mean concentrations were 1.67 µg/dL (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.63, 1.70) for blood lead, 0.

SUBMITTER: Zota AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4351349 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature