Environmental Metal Exposure May Raise Cardiovascular Risk

1 min

Environmental exposure to certain metals is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet its effects on coronary artery calcium — the buildup of calcium in the arteries that supply blood to the heart — have been unclear. To learn more, researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health analyzed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), which tracked 6,418 men and women ages 45 to 84 from diverse racial backgrounds. Specifically, they looked at levels of various metals excreted in the participants’ urine. At the start of the MESA study, none of the participants had been diagnosed with CVD.

The researchers found that exposure to metals such as cadmium, tungsten, uranium, and cobalt was associated with significantly elevated levels of coronary artery calcium over a 10-year period. For example, people with the highest levels of urinary cadmium had coronary artery calcium levels that were 75 percent higher than those with the lowest levels over the 10-year period. Likewise, urinary tungsten, uranium and cobalt corresponded with coronary artery calcium levels that were 45 percent, 39 percent, and 47 percent higher, respectively, during that decade. These metals are widespread in the environment, largely due to pollution from tobacco smoke, fertilizers, batteries, oil production, welding, mining, and nuclear energy production.

Overall, the researchers say that exposure to such metals was linked to increased calcium buildup in coronary arteries comparable to that associated with traditional CVD risk factors like smoking and diabetes.