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Cadmium levels in a representative sample of the Spanish adult population: The BIOAMBIENT.ES project

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 26, pages 471–480 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Urinary cadmium levels (U-Cd) were measured in 1770 adults (aged 18–65 years) as a representative sample of the Spanish workforce. The geometric mean (GM) was 0.28 μg/l with 95% CI: 0.27–0.32 μg/l (GM: 0.20 μg/g 95% CI: 0.18–022 μg/g creatinine). The 95% percentile was 1.03 μg/l. U-Cd increased with age, with women showing higher U-Cd than men (p<0.001; 0.24 μg/g vs 0.17 μg/g). A multivariate analysis confirmed that sex, age and smoking habit significantly influence U-Cd. Smoking habit increases U-Cd by ∼90% per 10 years of age, almost twice the increase observed for non-smoking. Female smokers had 85% higher U-Cd than non-smokers, whereas the corresponding value for male smokers and non-smokers was 45%. No regional differences were observed with respect to the national reference level. The Spanish population studied here exhibits similar urinary cadmium levels to its European counterparts in Germany and slightly lower levels than in France, the Czech Republic, Italy and the United Kingdom. This paper provides the first baseline information concerning cadmium exposure in the Spanish adult population on a national scale. As such, these findings will help us to establish reference levels, follow temporal trends and identify high-exposure groups, thereby enabling comparisons with other countries and contributing to the improvement of public health and environmental quality.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Environment (SEG 1251/07 and SEG 1112/10 Projects). We are very grateful to the volunteers and to M Rodríguez, S González, M Rosado and S Gómez for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Toxicology, National Centre for Environmental Health (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Ana López-Herranz, Francisco Cutanda, Marta Esteban & Argelia Castaño

  2. National Centre for Epidemiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Marina Pollán & Beatriz Pérez-Gómez

  3. Ibermutuamur, Ramirez de Arellano 4, Madrid, Spain

    Eva Calvo & Maria Victoria Cortes

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  1. Ana López-Herranz
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BIOAMBIENT.ES

  • J L Aleixandre
  • , N Aragonés
  • , M Bartolomé
  • , O Huetos
  • , J A Jiménez
  • , G López-Abente
  • , J Mayor
  • , C F Mendez
  • , M A Molina
  • , C Navarro
  • , R Pastor-Barriuso
  • , M Cervantes
  • , J Román
  •  & J Sánchez

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Correspondence to Argelia Castaño.

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BIOAMBIENT.ES: J.L. Aleixandre; N. Aragonés; M. Bartolomé; O. Huetos; J.A. Jiménez; G. López-Abente; J. Mayor; C.F. Méndez; M.A. Molina; C. Navarro; R. Pastor-Barriuso; M. Cervantes; J. Román and J. Sánchez.

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López-Herranz, A., Cutanda, F., Esteban, M. et al. Cadmium levels in a representative sample of the Spanish adult population: The BIOAMBIENT.ES project. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26, 471–480 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.25

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