Relationship between Serum Cadmium Concentration and Lung Function: A Study Using Korea National Health and Nutrition...

Occupational and environmental exposures to cadmium affects lung. Cadmium accumulation alters intracellular signaling and impairs innate immunity which leads to chronic inflammation. Various factor such as gender, age, smoking status, and comorbidities are known to be associated with blood cadmium levels. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between lung function and serum cadmium concentration, adjusting for these factors.

The study population included 7,448 adults who are over 40 years old and participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2008 to 2017, excluding 2014-2015, when there were no measured values for heavy metals. To investigate the relationship between blood cadmium concentration and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC), weights were applied to the subjects and adjusted linear regression analysis was performed.

According to gender, as the blood cadmium concentration increased FEV1/FVC decreased in male smokers with age, body mass index (BMI), education level, hypertension and diabetes adjusted (estimate, -0.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.02 to 0.003). In female current smoker group, as the blood cadmium concentration increased, FEV1/FVC decreased with age, BMI, education level, hypertension, and diabetes adjusted (estimate, -0.02; 95% CI, -0.04 to -0.01).

Lung function represented by FEV1/FVC decreased as the blood cadmium concentration increased in the male and female smoker group. The relationship between blood cadmium concentration and kidney function remains controversial and requires future studies. As a result, our study provided insight into the effects of cadmium concentration on lung function.