Environmental exposure to heavy metals may increase BP in women

Middle-aged women who are environmentally exposed to heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead, are likely to experience a rise in blood pressure (BP) levels, as suggested in a study.

The analysis included 1,317 White, Black, Chinese, and Japanese women aged 45–56 years (1999–2000) participating in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation Multi-Pollutant. They provided urinary samples at baseline, which were evaluated for concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead.

Urinary metal concentrations were evaluated in relation to the longitudinal changes in BP using linear mixed-effects models controlled for confounders. Systolic and diastolic BP levels were measured annually or biannually through 2017.

Estimated annualized increases in systolic BP associated with the highest and lowest tertiles of urinary metal concentrations were 0.93 mm Hg (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.85–1.01) and 0.74 mm Hg (95 percent CI, 0.66–0.82) for arsenic, 0.82 mm Hg (95 percent CI, 0.75–0.90) and 0.72 mm Hg (95 percent CI, 0.65–0.80) for mercury, and 0.86 mm Hg (95 percent CI, 0.78–0.93) and 0.72 mm Hg (95 percent CI, 0.64–0.79) for lead, respectively.

Diastolic BP showed a similar trend of increase.

Urinary cadmium concentrations correlated with a greater rate of increase in systolic BP only among never smokers. Meanwhile, women with higher vs lower concentrations of all four metals exhibited higher annualized increases in systolic and diastolic BP.

The present data underscore a need for continued efforts to reduce environmental exposures to heavy metals.