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Association of smoking and dietary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 33, pages 831–839 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants that are potentially hazardous to human health. Dietary exposure is recognized as one of the major pathways of exposure to PAHs among humans. While some PAH exposures have been associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the general population, most epidemiological studies are based on urinary metabolites of a few noncarcinogenic PAHs.

Objective

To investigate the association between estimates of dietary exposure to major carcinogenic PAHs and MetS in Korean adults.

Methods

Multi-cycle Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) database (n = 16,015) and PAH measurement data from the total diet survey were employed to estimate daily PAH intake for each participating adult. After adjusting for potential confounders, multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between PAHs and MetS of the participating adults.

Results

Benzo(a)pyrene exposure was associated with an increased risk of MetS in men (OR = 1.30; 95% Cl: 1.03–1.63; P-trend = 0.03). In women, however, only chrysene and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL-c) were positively associated with an increased risk of MetS (OR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.03–1.48; P-trend = 0.0172). Among men, smokers were at an increased risk for MetS, regardless of whether they were exposed to low or high total PAHs and benzo(a)pyrene levels.

Significance

Our findings suggested that PAHs are associated with the risk of MetS and MetS components in Korean adults. In particular, it was confirmed that smoking may influence the relationship between PAH exposure and MetS.Further prospective cohort studies are required to confirm the causal relationship between PAHs and MetS.

Impact statement

Epidemiological studies on PAH exposure are often hampered by a lack of reliable exposure estimates, as biomonitoring of urine does not capture exposure to more toxic PAHs. Using multi-cycle KNHANES data and the measurement data from a total diet survey of Korea, we could develop a personalized PAH intake estimate for each participating adult and assessed the association with MetS.

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Fig. 1: Flowchart of the selection.
Fig. 2: Adjusted prevalence ratios of MetS for different combinations of smoking status and PAH metabolite levels.

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Data availability

The data generated in this study were obtained from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), http://knhanes.cdc.go.kr.

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Acknowledgements

This study used data from the KNHANES study, which was supported by the Institutional Review Board of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). This research also was supported by a grant (20162MFDS112) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2020.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No.2020R1C1C1014286). MSIT: Ministry of Science and ICT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Nutrition, Chung-Ang University, Gyeonggi-do, 17546, Republic of Korea

    Jiaqi Zhang, Li-Juan Tan, Hyein Jung, Jongseok Jung, JiYun Lee, BoKyung Moon & Sangah Shin

  2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Gowoon Lee, Suhyun Park & Kyungho Choi

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  1. Jiaqi Zhang
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Contributions

SS conceived and designed the study, acquired data, and played an important role in interpreting the results. JZ was responsible for extracting and analyzing data, interpreting results, and drafting of the manuscript. L-JT, HJ, JJ, J-YL, GL, and SP played an important role in acquiring the data. B-KM and KC revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sangah Shin.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The present study complied with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the study protocols for the KNHANES VI and VII were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) (IRB no. 2013-07CON-03-4C, 2013-12EXP-03-5C, 2018-01-03-P-A).

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Zhang, J., Tan, LJ., Jung, H. et al. Association of smoking and dietary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 33, 831–839 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-023-00541-1

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