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TUESDAY, March 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Environmental lead exposure is a risk factor for all-cause, cardiovascular disease, and ischemic heart disease mortality, according to a study published online March 12 in The Lancet Public Health<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Bruce P. Lanphear, M.D., from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues quantified the relative contribution of environmental lead exposure to all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, and ischemic heart disease mortality in a nationally representative sample of 14,289 adults aged 20 years and older enrolled in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 20 percent of participants had a concentration of lead of at least 5 \u00b5g\/dL in blood. A total of 4,422 people died during a median follow-up of 19.3 years: 38 percent from cardiovascular disease and 22 percent from ischemic heart disease. There was a correlation for an increase in the concentration of lead in blood from 1.0 to 6.7 \u00b5g\/dL (10th to 90th percentiles) with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, and ischemic heart disease mortality (hazard ratios, 1.37, 1.70, and 2.08, respectively). The population attributable fractions of the concentration of lead in blood for all-cause, cardiovascular, and ischemic heart disease mortality were 18.0, 28.7, and 37.4 percent, respectively, equivalent to 412,000, 256,000, and 185,000 deaths annually.<\/p>\n
“A comprehensive strategy to prevent deaths from cardiovascular disease should include efforts to reduce lead exposure,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
One author disclosed serving as an expert witness in plaintiff cases of childhood lead poisoning.<\/p>\n
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