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The relationship between blood pressure and blood lead in NHANES III

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 16, pages 563–568 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

There is no general agreement as to whether low-level lead exposure increases blood pressure. The present study examined the correlation between blood pressure and blood lead in the NHANES III database (1988–1994). Analyses were performed for all adults (⩾20 years), and reported separately for white males (n = 4685), white females (n = 5138), black males (n = 1761) and black females (n = 2197). Significant covariates of blood pressure were selected by stepwise regression. The change in blood pressure that would be associated with a doubling of blood lead was calculated from the adjusted regression coefficients. Mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure was 123/76 mm Hg in white males, 119/70 mm Hg in white females, 126/77 mm Hg in black males and 121/72 mm Hg in black females. Median blood lead was 174 nmol/L (3.6 μg/dL), 101 nmol/L (2.1 μg/dL), 203 nmol/L (4.2 μg/dL) and 111 nmol/L (2.3 μg/dL), respectively. For a doubling of blood lead, the changes in systolic blood pressure were 0.3 (95% confidence interval: −0.2 to 0.7, P= 0.29), 0.1 (−0.4 to 0.5, P = 0.80), 0.9 (0.04 to 1.8, P = 0.04) and 1.2 (0.4 to 2.0, P = 0.004) mm Hg, respectively and the changes in diastolic blood pressure were −0.6 (−0.9 to −0.3, P = 0.0003), −0.2 (−0.5 to −0.1, P = 0.13), 0.3 (−0.3 to 1.0, P = 0.28) and 0.5 (0.01 to 1.1, P = 0.047) mm Hg, respectively. In conclusion, there is no consistent relationship between blood pressure and blood lead in the NHANES III dataset.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the International Lead Zinc Research Organisation (Research Triangle Park, NC, USA). We gratefully acknowledge the statistical advice of Lutgarde Thijs. Lutgard De Pauw, Paul Drent, Sylvia Van Hulle, and Renilde Wolfs gave expert secretarial and technical assistance.

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  1. Department of Molecular and Cardiovascular Research, Hypertension and Cardiovascular Revalidation Unit, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    E Den Hond, T Nawrot & J A Staessen

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  1. E Den Hond
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  2. T Nawrot
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  3. J A Staessen
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Correspondence to E Den Hond.

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Den Hond, E., Nawrot, T. & Staessen, J. The relationship between blood pressure and blood lead in NHANES III. J Hum Hypertens 16, 563–568 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001452

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