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Cadmium blood and urine concentrations as measures of exposure: NHANES 1999–2010

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 24, pages 163–170 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Exposure to cadmium, a heavy metal present in cigarettes, can be assessed in both urine and blood. Few studies have compared the properties of concurrent measurements of urine cadmium (uCd) and blood cadmium (bCd) in relation to the duration and timing of a known exposure. In this study, bCd and uCd were modeled with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2010). Adjusted geometric mean bCd and uCd were estimated from regression results. Each 1% higher geometric mean uCd was associated with 0.50% (95% confidence interval: 0.47%–0.54%; R2=0.30) higher bCd. In male never-smokers, bCd was 69% (59%–81%) and uCd was 200% (166%–234%) higher at age ≥70 years versus 20–29 years. Ten pack-years (py) of smoking were associated with 13.7% (10.0%–17.4%) higher bCd and 16.8% (12.6%–21.1%) higher uCd in male smokers. The first year after smoking cessation was associated with 53% (48%–58%) lower bCd and 23% (14%–33%) lower uCd in representative males aged 55 years with 20 py smoking. Smoking in the previous 5 days was associated with 55% (40%–71%) higher bCd and 7% (−3%–18%) higher uCd. Results were similar for women. uCd mainly measures long-term exposure and bCd recent exposure, but with noticeable overlap. Epidemiological studies should base the choice of uCd or bCd on the timing of cadmium exposure relevant to the disease under study.

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Abbreviations

bCd:

blood cadmium concentration

BMI:

body mass index

Cr:

urine creatinine

ICP-MS:

inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

LOD:

limit of detection

NHANES:

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Py:

pack-year of cigarette smoking

uCd:

urine cadmium concentration

95% CI:

95% confidence interval

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Acknowledgements

Investigators gratefully acknowledge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics; and Michael Passarelli and Sabah Quraishi for helpful comments on the manuscript. Supported by National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences R01ES019667.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Program in Cancer Prevention, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Scott V Adams & Polly A Newcomb

  2. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Polly A Newcomb

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Correspondence to Scott V Adams.

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Adams, S., Newcomb, P. Cadmium blood and urine concentrations as measures of exposure: NHANES 1999–2010. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 24, 163–170 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.55

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