HEALTH-EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE TO CADMIUM IN A POPULATION STUDY

The Cadmibel Study is a cross-sectional population study, which invest igated the hypothesis that environmental exposure of the population to cadmium would result in health effects. The 2,327 participants consti tuted a random sample of the population of four Belgian districts, cho sen to provide a wide range of environmental exposure to cadmium. The urinary cadmium excretion, a measure of lifetime exposure, averaged 9. 3 nmol/24 h in men (range 0.4-325 nmol/24 h) and 7.2 nmol (0.1-71 nmol /24 h) in women. The Cadmibel Study refuted the hypothesis that exposu re to cadmium would lead to an increase in BP and in the prevalence of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Serum alkaline phosph atase activity and the urinary excretion of calcium correlated signifi cantly and positively with urinary cadmium in both sexes. These findin gs suggest that the calcium metabolism is gradually affected, as cadmi um accumulates in the body. Furthermore, several markers of renal tubu lar function (urinary excretion of retinol binding protein, N-acetyl-b eta-glucosaminidase, beta2-Microglobulin and aminoacids) were signific antly and positively associated with urinary cadmium. There was a 10% probability of abnormal values of these markers of tubular function wh en urinary cadmium exceeded +/-20 nmol/24 h. However, the morbidity as sociated with the functional changes, observed in the Cadmibel Study, remains presently unknown and requires further investigation, preferab ly in a longitudinal population studies.