Association of selected social, environmental and constitutional factors to blood lead levels in men aged 55–75 years

Morisi, G; Menditto, Antonio; Spagnolo, Amedeo; Patriarca, Marina; Menotti, Alessandro

doi:10.1016/0048-9697(92)90198-2

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Various studies have shown a direct relation between alcohol consumption and both blood pressure (21) and B-Pb concentration (19,22,23). A highly significant increase in B-Pb with rising alcohol consumption has been previously reported for the subjects examined in the present survey (20). Alcohol consumption, explaining 14.71% of the total variability, was by far the most important predictor of B-Pb concentration; the odds ratio on the risk of having a B-Pb higher than 180 jig/l was proportional to the level of alcohol consumption, with a 27.7-fold increased risk for heavy drinkers (alcohol intake >100 g/day); B-Pb was more specific and sensitive than HDL-cholesterol and y-glutamyltransferase, commonly considered indexes of alcohol consumption (24,25), in identifying moderate or heavy drinkers (alcohol intake >50 g/day), and also showed the highest positive predictive value.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…In terms of a slope of 2 mm Hg for a 100 pg/l change in B-Pb, the decline in B-Pb concentration of about 100 pg/l we have observed in male subjects living in the Rome area since 1979 (20), although not producing significant changes in the relative risk of cardiovascular disease, might have some importance from a public health perspective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among drinkers (n = 1068) the median ethanol intake was 18.4 g/day and more than 90% of total alcohol intake was due to wine. With regard to smoking habits, 72% of subjects were nonsmokers; among current smokers (369 subjects) the median consumption was of 15 cigarettes daily (25th-75th centiles: [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second comment is that low levels of lead exposure, such as those, mainly associated to alcohol consumption and occurring in our subjects (20), might cause an increase in blood pressure. Animal data seems to support the hypothesis of a causal link.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the cohort under study, we previously reported (20) that the median B-Pb concentration was 29.1% higher in subjects smoking more than 20 cigarettes daily than in nonsmokers. Moreover, the reported smoking status, which explained 2.12% of the total variance, was the second major predictor of B-Pb concentration (20).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Association of blood lead to blood pressure in men aged 55 to 75 years: effect of selected social and biochemical confounders. NFR Study Group.

Menditto

Morisi

Spagnolo

et al. 1994

Environ Health Perspect

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The association of blood lead (B-Pb) concentration to blood pressure was investigated in men aged 55 to 75 years living in the Rome area, who had no history of exposure to lead in the workplace and who participated between 1989 and 1990 in an epidemiologic survey for coronary heart disease (New Risk Factor Project). Of the 1856 individuals eligible for the study, 59 were excluded from analyses because not all relevant data were available; and 478 were excluded because they were treated for hypertension. In the remaining subjects (n = 1319) the median B-Pb concentration was 113 pg/l (range: 40-442 pg/I). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) averaged 140 ± 18 (standard deviation) mm Hg (range 98-220) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 84 ± 9 mm Hg (range 56-118). Median B-Pb values increased significantly from 1 1 1 pg/l in subjects with normal blood pressure (n = 668) to 1 13.5 pg/l in subjects with borderline high blood pressure (n = 373) and to 120 pg/l in subjects with increased blood pressure (n = 278). After log-normal conversion of B-Pb, the linear correlation coefficient between ln[B-Pb(ug/l)] and both SBP and DBP was statistically significant (r = 0.1332, p <0.001 and r = 0.0737, p = 0.007, respectively). The linear regression coefficient was 6.8 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for SBP and 1.8 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for DBP. Multiple regression analyses revealed that, after correction for body mass index (BMI), age, heart rate, skinfold thickness, serum lipids, and glucose levels, blood lead was still a significant predictor of increased SBP and DBP. The adjusted regression coefficient was 5.6 mm HgAn(ug/l) for SBP and 1.7 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for DBP. In further analyses subjects were divided, according to alcohol consumption, into drinkers (n = 1068) and nondrinkers (n = 251). Among nondrinkers the median B-Pb levels was 97 pg/l (2.5th and 97.5th centiles 55-181 pg/I) and SBP and DBP averaged 138 ± 17 and 84 ± 9 mm Hg, respectively. No significant relationship between In[B-Pb] and blood pressure was found. In drinkers the median B-Pb level was 1 17 pg/l (2.5th and 97.5th centiles: 63-252 pg/I) and SBP and DBP averaged 141 ± 18 and 84 ± 9 mm Hg, respectively. The linear regression coefficient was 7.5 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for SBP and 2.6 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for DBP. In multiple stepwise regressions including BMI, age, heart rate, smoking, skinfold thickness, serum lipids, and glucose levels as covariates-the partial correlation coefficient of systolic and diastolic blood pressure with In[B-Pb] remained statistically significant. The adjusted regression coefficients were 5.6 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for SBP and 2.5 mm Hg/ln(pg/l) for DBP. These findings indicate that a slight to moderate positive relationship exists between blood pressure and blood lead concentrations in male drinkers aged 55 to 75 years. -Environ Health Perspect 102(Suppl 9): 107-111 (1994)

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