Cardiometabolic Dysregulation and PON1 Genetic Susceptibility in Chronic E-waste Recyclers Exposed to Potentially Toxic Elements

Electronic waste (e-waste) is the world’s fastest-growing category of hazardous solid waste and poses a serious health risk. In this study, we investigated heavy metals, a significant component of e-waste, and biochemicals, including Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), among chronic e-waste-exposed and non-exposed human individuals. We examined the PON1 gene’s single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association with exposure. We conducted a cross-sectional study that included 256 adult male e-waste recyclers and 145 randomly selected non-exposed control subjects. Dust samples from e-waste areas were also analyzed for potentially toxic elements (PTEs). The Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique was employed for metal detection. The enzymatic and colorimetric approaches were used to measure biochemical parameters. The Tetra arm PCR procedure was used for SNP analysis. Mendelian randomization (MR) weighted median regression was applied to determine the association. The results revealed that all the PTEs were significantly higher in the e-waste exposed group. Except for PON1, all the biochemical parameters investigated surged while PON1 decreased in the exposed group. Zinc (Zn), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) were negatively correlated with PON1, TC, HDL, and LDL, while they positively correlated with TG. This negative correlation with PON1 was more prevalent for e-waste-exposed workers who carry the GG allele (rs662). The study concludes that chronic e-waste exposure dysregulates the PON1 level and cardiac parameters, posing serious cardiovascular health risks in e-waste recyclers.