Skip to main content

Table 3 Geometric mean (95% confidence interval) blood metals concentrations by participant characteristics

From: Distribution of metals exposure and associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in the “Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study”

  

Lead (μg/dL)

 

Cadmium (μg/L)

 

Arsenic (μg/L)

 

Mercury (μg/L)

 

Variable

N (%)

GM (95% CI)

p-value

GM (95% CI)

p-value

GM (95% CI)

p-value

GM (95% CI)

p-value

Site Location

         

U.S.A.

30 (20)

0.80 (0.61, 1.05)

<0.00001

0.15 (0.07, 0.31)

<0.00001

3.97 (3.62, 4.35)

<0.00001

0.07 (0.03, 0.20)

<0.00001

South Africa

30 (20)

1.45 (1.22, 1.74)

 

0.00 (0.00, 0.01)

 

5.65 (5.18, 6.16)

 

0.05 (0.02, 0.15)

 

Ghana

30 (20)

3.12 (1.53, 6.38)

 

0.00 (0.00, 0.01)

 

11.17 (9.69, 12.87)

 

1.56 (1.01, 2.42)

 

Jamaica

30 (20)

0.96 (0.77, 1.19)

 

0.01 (0.00, 0.04)

 

9.24 (8.37, 10.19)

 

2.43 (1.82, 3.25)

 

Seychelles

30 (20)

2.56 (2.26, 2.90)

 

0.47 (0.21, 1.06)

 

16.29 (14.93, 17.77)

 

28.47 (23.03, 35.18)

 

Age group

         

<35 years

72 (48)

1.46 (1.07, 1.99)

0.64

0.02 (0.01, 0.04)

0.09

8.13 (7.17, 9.22)

0.53

0.81 (0.41, 1.61)

0.22

≥35 years

78 (52)

1.64 (1.35, 1.99)

 

0.04 (0.02, 0.07)

 

8.32 (7.26, 9.53)

 

0.88 (0.44, 1.75)

 

Sex

         

Male

74 (49)

1.68 (1.41, 2.00)

0.35

0.03 (0.02, 0.06)

0.43

8.94 (7.93, 10.07)

0.21

1.61 (0.88, 2.94)

0.13

Female

76 (51)

1.44 (1.05, 1.96)

 

0.02 (0.01, 0.05)

 

7.59 (6.59, 8.73)

 

0.45 (0.22, 0.94)

 

Marital Status

         

Married/living as married

74 (49)

1.97 (1.57, 2.48)

0.02

0.02 (0.01, 0.04)

0.38

9.48 (8.39, 10.71)

0.007

1.40 (0.74, 2.65)

0.08

Not married*

76 (51)

1.22 (0.94, 1.60)

 

0.03 (0.02, 0.06)

 

7.17 (6.28, 8.18)

 

0.52 (0.25, 1.06)

 

Education

         

≤11 years

83 (55)

1.84 (1.39, 2.44)

0.03

0.01 (0.01, 0.02)

0.03

9.09 (8.20, 10.09)

0.23

0.90 (0.51, 1.60)

0.004

>11 years

67 (45)

1.25 (1.03, 1.52)

 

0.07 (0.04, 0.14)

 

7.27 (6.20, 8.52)

 

0.78 (0.35, 1.78)

 

Paid Employment (past month)

         

Yes

95 (63)

1.71 (1.42, 2.06)

0.81

0.05 (0.03, 0.09)

<0.00001

9.63 (8.60, 10.79)

<0.00001

2.24 (1.33, 3.80)

<0.00001

No

55 (37)

1.31 (0.90, 1.90)

 

0.01 (0.00, 0.02)

 

6.26 (5.48, 7.15)

 

0.16 (0.07, 0.34)

 

Employment type

         

Non-manual labor

37 (25)

1.07 (0.78, 1.45)

0.12

0.10 (0.04, 0.22)

0.22

7.18 (5.67, 9.09)

0.38

0.76 (0.25, 2.32)

0.22

Skilled manual labor

16 (11)

1.39 (1.03, 1.88)

 

0.03 (0.01, 0.13)

 

7.73 (6.08, 9.81)

 

0.63 (0.13, 3.12)

 

Unskilled manual labor

92 (61)

1.87 (1.45, 2.41)

 

0.02 (0.01, 0.03)

 

9.02 (8.12, 10.03)

 

1.10 (0.63, 1.93)

 

Missing

5 (3)

1.01 (0.45, 2.31)

 

0.02 (0.00, 0.35)

 

5.01 (2.77, 9.09)

 

0.04 (0.00, 2.76)

 

Cigarette smoking

         

Smoker (≥1/day for year)

27 (18)

1.58 (1.28, 1.96)

0.67

0.13 (0.04, 0.37)

0.0008

6.34 (5.12, 7.85)

0.03

0.20 (0.06, 0.74)

0.05

Occasional smoker

8 (5)

2.22 (1.59, 3.10)

 

0.05 (0.00, 1.30)

 

12.09 (8.03, 18.20)

 

5.96 (0.56, 63.89)

 

Ex-smoker (for at least 1 year)

5 (3)

1.61 (0.61, 4.26)

 

0.01 (0.00, 0.27)

 

8.79 (5.68, 13.60)

 

2.21 (0.23, 21.52)

 

Never-smoker

110 (73)

1.50 (1.18, 1.90)

 

0.02 (0.01, 0.03)

 

8.50 (7.63, 9.47)

 

1.00 (0.59, 1.71)

 

Alcohol Use (≥12 drinks/year)

         

Yes

83 (55)

1.42 (1.10, 1.84)

0.06

0.05 (0.03, 0.09)

0.002

8.94 (7.88, 10.15)

0.031

1.59 (0.84, 3.01)

0.006

No/Missing

67 (45)

1.72 (1.34, 2.22)

 

0.01 (0.01, 0.02)

 

7.41 (6.49, 8.47)

 

0.39 (0.19, 0.78)

 

Fish Intake (≥1 serving/day)

         

Yes

80 (53.3)

2.13 (1.72, 2.65)

0.003

0.46 (0.02, 0.09)

0.0009

10.59 (9.40, 11.93)

<0.00001

2.85 (1.72, 4.72)

0.0002

No

70 (46.7)

1.07 (0.82, 1.41)

 

0.01 (0.01, 0.03)

 

6.16 (5.52, 6.88)

 

0.21 (0.10, 0.44)

 

Physical Activity

         

<21.5 mins/day

109 (73)

1.39 (1.11, 1.75)

0.62

0.03 (0.02, 0.05)

0.98

7.87 (7.02, 8.82)

0.36

0.79 (0.44, 1.41)

0.68

≥21.5 mins/day

41 (27)

2.06 (1.61, 2.64)

 

0.03 (0.01, 0.06)

 

9.25 (7.98, 10.73)

 

1.02 (0.44, 2.40)

 

Weight group

         

Underweight, BMI < 18.5

6 (4)

1.83 (1.21, 2.77)

0.61

0.00 (0.00, 0.01)

0.47

8.06 (5.02, 12.92)

0.11

0.39 (0.00, 31.81)

0.04

Normal weight, BMI 18.5 to <25

70 (47)

1.62 (1.17, 2.26)

 

0.03 (0.02, 0.06)

 

8.74 (7.62, 10.01)

 

0.91 (0.48, 1.75)

 

Overweight, BMI ≥25 to <30

30 (20)

1.67 (1.24, 2.24)

 

0.01 (0.00, 0.05)

 

9.55 (7.91, 11.53)

 

2.38 (0.86, 6.59)

 

Obese, BMI ≥30

44 (29)

1.34 (1.04, 1.73)

 

0.04 (0.02, 0.09)

 

6.77 (5.66, 8.10)

 

0.41 (0.16, 1.09)

 
  1. *Not married includes: widowed, divorced, separated, and never married.
Back to article page

Environmental Health

ISSN: 1476-069X