Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Ingested inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a human carcinogen that is also linked to other adverse health effects, such as respiratory outcomes. Yet, among populations consuming low-arsenic drinking water, the impact of iAs exposure on childhood respiratory health is still uncertain. For a Spanish child study cohort (INfancia y Medio Ambiente-INMA), low-arsenic drinking water is usually available and ingestion of iAs from food is considered the major source of exposure. Here, we explored the association between iAs exposure and children's respiratory outcomes assessed at 4 and 7 years of age (n = 400). The summation of 4-year-old children's urinary iAs, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) was used as a biomarker of iAs exposure (∑As) (median of 4.92 μg/L). Children's occurrence of asthma, eczema, sneeze, wheeze, and medication for asthma and wheeze at each assessment time point (i.e., 4- and 7-year) was assessed with maternal interviewer-led questionnaires. Crude and adjusted Poisson regression models using Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) were performed to account for the association between natural logarithm transformed (ln) urinary ∑As in μg/L at 4 years and repeated assessments of respiratory symptoms at 4 and 7 years of age. The covariates included in the models were child sex, maternal smoking status, maternal level of education, sub-cohort, and children's consumption of vegetables, fruits, and fish/seafood. The GEE-splines function using Poisson regression showed an increased trend of the overall expected counts of respiratory symptoms with high urinary ∑As. The adjusted expected counts (95% confidence intervals) at ln-transformed urinary ∑As 1.57 (average concentration) and 4.00 (99th percentile concentration) were 0.63 (0.36, 1.10) and 1.33 (0.61, 2.89), respectively. These exploratory findings suggest that even relatively low-iAs exposure levels, relevant to the Spanish and other populations, may relate to an increased number of respiratory symptoms during childhood.
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Antonio J. Signes-Pastor, Susana Díaz-Coto, Pablo Martinez-Camblor, Manus Carey, Raquel Soler-Blasco, Miguel García-Villarino, Ana Fernández-Somoano, Jordi Julvez, Paula Carrasco, Aitana Lertxundi, Loreto Santa Marina, Maribel Casas, Andrew A. Meharg, Margaret R. Karagas, Jesús Vioque-Lopez
Institutions: Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), Dartmouth College, Queen's University Belfast, Universitat Jaume I, Universitat de València, Fundación para el Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de la Comunitat Valenciana, Universidad de Oviedo, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Institut de Recerca Biomèdica Catalunya Sud, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, University of the Basque Country, Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, Basque Government, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Chemistry
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,805
Awards: G1288326559, G1307251102, La metilación del ADN como mediador de la exposición prenatal a contaminantes obesógenos en la obesidad infantil, G1749994109, G2006876140, G2585906617, G2620658983, G2867885658, G2986769956, Children's Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth, Training Program for Quantitative Population Sciences in Cancer, G4106119142, G4112181810, G5500999890, G602185635, G6177300850, Exposición prenatal a compuestos orgánicos persistentes y obesidad y síndrome metabólico a los 11 años de edad: Un estudio prospectivo de COHORTE, G6999846316, G760935218, G7666946026, G8219708615, G8567666436, Contaminación ambiental por exposición a compuestos tóxicos persistentes y efectos en el desarrollo físico, visual y cognitivo infantil
OpenAlex ID: W4295027567