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Cadmium exposure and early renal effects in the children and adults living in a tungsten-molybdenum mining areas of South China

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Abstract

Adverse health effects related to accumulative cadmium (Cd) exposure have aroused widespread attention from the public in China. Knowledge on the relationships between Cd exposure and early renal effects is particularly limited for children, who are more susceptible to absorbing metals than adults. A typical Cd-polluted area of South China was selected to determine the Cd exposure and related early renal effects of the general population, including children. In total, 211 children and 806 adults were enrolled in the study. The urinary levels of Cd (U-Cd), β2-microglobulin (U-BMG), retinol binding protein (U-RBP), and N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (U-NAG) were measured. The relationship between U-Cd and ranked indicators of early renal effects was examined by multiple regression analysis. The average U-Cd ranged from 7.01 μg/g creatinine (boys) to 13.55 μg/g creatinine (women) in the Cd-polluted areas. These values are much higher than those of the control group and those that have been reported by other countries. In agreement with previous studies, environmental Cd pollution resulted in elevated Cd accumulation in the bodies of children, and it increased the concentration of NAG in their urine. Similarly, environmental Cd pollution increased NAG and BMG in the urine of adults. Multivariate models showed that the urinary excretion of BMG, RBP, and NAG was positively associated with Cd levels in the urine of both children and adults. The reference thresholds of U-Cd in relation to elevated U-BMG, U-RBP, and U-NAG were higher in children than adults after standardization for other covariates. These results reinforce the need to control and regulate the sources of environmental Cd contamination and to promote more effective risk management measures, especially for vulnerable groups.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Special Environmental Research Fund for Public Welfare (No. 201009046) and received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 269233-GLOCOM (Global Partners in Contaminated Land Management).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangfen Cui, Hongguang Cheng, Haixu Sun & Lei Zhang

  2. Green Development Institute, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China

    Xuelian Liu

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca’ Foscari, Venice, Italy

    Elisa Giubilato & Andrea Critto

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  1. Xiangfen Cui
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  2. Hongguang Cheng
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Correspondence to Hongguang Cheng or Andrea Critto.

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This work was supported by the Special Environmental Research Fund for Public Welfare (No. 201009046). The views expressed in the manuscript are only the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agencies. The biological samples were collected after informed consent forms were written and returned by the participants. In addition, the participants and researchers of the entire study have no conflicts of interest.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Highlights

• Exposure to environmental Cd from tungsten-molybdenum mining activities has resulted in increased Cd accumulation in the bodies of school children, elevated excretion of U-NAG in the investigated school children and adults, and elevated U-BMG in adults.

• The urinary excretion of NAG, BMG, and RBP is significantly affected by cadmium in the urine of both children and adults after an adjustment for other covariates.

• Reference doses of U-Cd in relation to the elevation of early renal effect indicators were higher in children than adults.

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Cui, X., Cheng, H., Liu, X. et al. Cadmium exposure and early renal effects in the children and adults living in a tungsten-molybdenum mining areas of South China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 15089–15101 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1631-0

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