Descriptive analysis of whole blood concentrations of toxic, essential, and trace elements in adult females from the MIREC-ENDO study.
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abstract
BACKGROUND: Exposure to toxic elements and deficiencies/excessive exposure to essential elements is associated with adverse health effects. Robust biomonitoring data exist for select elements in the general population of Canada, but data are limited for several essential/trace elements, especially among females approaching menopause, a critical and understudied life stage. OBJECTIVE: To describe whole blood concentrations of toxic, essential, and trace elements in females enrolled in a 2018-2021 follow-up of the Canadian Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals cohort, and examine differences in concentrations by sociodemographic and obstetrical history characteristics. METHODS: We analyzed whole blood samples (n = 288) for concentrations of 21 elements. For 14 elements with >50% detection, we calculated Spearman correlations and compared geometric means across strata of participant characteristics. RESULTS: Element concentrations were similar or lower than reported for similarly aged females in Canada. Participants seemed to have adequate concentrations of essential elements except for zinc, where most were below the proposed zinc adequacy biomonitoring equivalent (6017 μg/L whole blood). The strongest correlations (ρ = 0.41-0.63) were observed between toxic elements which may share exposure sources (mercury/arsenic), and essential elements associated with blood cell production/function (iron/cobalt/copper/zinc/manganese/selenium). Participants' geometric mean element concentrations were generally 1.1-2.0 times higher among peri-/post-menopausal participants (lead), those with unknown menopausal status (iron), older participants (cadmium), younger participants (iron, beryllium), smokers (lead, cadmium), non-smokers (selenium), lower BMI (lead, mercury, arsenic, cesium), higher BMI (manganese, copper), higher household income (nickel), and higher education (mercury, arsenic, cesium). CONCLUSIONS: We provide important biomonitoring data for elements among adult females approaching the menopausal transition.
