Persistent organic pollutant exposure contributes to Black/White differences in leukocyte telomere length in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

ABSTRACT: Despite racial disparities in diseases of aging and premature mortality, non-Hispanic Black Americans tend to have longer leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker of cellular aging, than non-Hispanic White Americans. Previous findings suggest that exposure to certain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is both racially-patterned and associated with longer LTL. We examine whether Black/White differences in LTL are explained by differences in exposure to 15 POPs by estimating the indirect effect (IE) of self-reported race on LTL that is mediated through nine polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), three furans, and three dioxins, as well as their mixtures. Our study population includes 1,251 adults from the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 cycles of the cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Ex

SUBMITTER: Roberts EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9675834 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature