Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Urinary Cadmium in Women from Northern Mexico

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ángel Mérida-Ortega, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; Lizbeth López-Carrillo, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; Karla Rangel-Moreno, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; Natalia Ramirez, Emory University; Stephen J Rothenberg, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-11-29
• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 by the authors.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312581
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 23
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT)-Fondo Sectorial de Investigación en Salud y Seguridad Social (FOSISS) SALUD-2005-C02-14373, SALUD-2009-01-111384, SALUD-2010-C01-140962, SALUD-2016-1-272632; Fondo Sectorial de Investigación para la Educación 2008-79912 SEP-CONACYT; Proyectos de desarrollo científico para atender problemas nacionales PDCPN2013-01-215464; Fondo Institucional para el Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación FORDECYT-PRONACES/137732/2020 and the Mount Sinai International Exchange Program for Minority Students funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (T37 MD001452) and the Fogarty International Center (Fogarty International Center D43 TW011403).
• Keywords: Mexico; secondhand smoke; tobacco; cadmium
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd), a carcinogenic metal also related to reproductive and cardiovascular diseases, is contained in tobacco and elevated concentrations of it in humans have been consistently associated with first-hand tobacco smoke; however, there is scarce and inconclusive evidence of the relationship between Cd and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. Our aim was to evaluate the association between exposure to tobacco, both active and SHS, with urinary Cd concentrations in Mexican women. In a cross-sectional analysis that included 998 women living in northern Mexico, we measured the concentration of creatinine-adjusted urinary Cd (µg-cadmium/g-creatinine) using inductively coupled plasma triple quadrupole (ICP-QQQ) in tandem mass spectrometry mode (MS/MS). We gathered tobacco smoking information through an in-person interview and formed seven groups: non-smokers without SHS exposure; non-smokers with SHS exposure; ex-smokers without SHS exposure <1 year of quitting; ex-smokers without SHS exposure ≥1 year of quitting, ex-smokers with SHS exposure <1 year of quitting; ex-smokers with SHS exposure ≥1 year of quitting and current smokers. The interview also yielded sociodemographic characteristics. We used linear multivariable regression models to estimate the association between Cd concentrations and tobacco smoke exposure. Compared to non-smokers without SHS exposure, we found higher Cd concentrations in ex-smokers with SHS exposure <1 year of quitting and current smokers (adjusted geometric means 0.51 vs. 1.01 and 0.69 µg-cadmium/g-creatinine, respectively). Our results do not support a conclusion that SHS exposure is a source of Cd body burden.