Work

Exposure to a mixture of four metals and associations with urinary oxidative stress biomarkers in Uruguayan adolescents

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The consequences of low-level exposure to metal mixtures on oxidative stress (OS) in adolescents is poorly understood. We examined the association between arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) in blood and urinary F2-isoprostane (F2-IsoP) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels. Data for this cross-sectional study come from the Salud Ambiental Montevideo cohort which originally enrolled children at 6-8 years. In 2021-23, the adolescents now aged 12.1±2.1 years provided a venous blood sample and a spot urine sample. Metals were measured in blood via Inductively Coupled Plasma Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS); urinary OS markers were measured via a competitive enzyme immunoassay (F2-IsoP) and LC-MS (8-OHdG). Relationship between metals, individually and as a mixture, and each OS marker was evaluated in multivariable linear and Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression models, respectively. Of the 430 adolescents (49.3% male) who attended a study visit, 361 were selected into a complete-case sample. Median blood As concentration was 0.30 μg/L; Cd 0.06 μg/L; Hg 0.22 μg/L; and Pb 1.17 μg/dL. The correlation among metals was generally low. We observed null associations between individual metals and OS biomarkers and no evidence of interactions among metals when modeled as a mixture. F2-IsoP concentrations were lower with each higher quantile of metal mixture, but the magnitude of these associations was very small. Metal mixture was unrelated to 8-OHdG concentrations. In this cross-sectional study, we found little evidence for an association between blood metals, either individually or as a mixture and OS in adolescents.

Source: Journal of Environmental Exposure Assessment

DOI: 10.20517/jeea.2025.33