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Blood mercury concentration in relation to metabolic and weight phenotypes using the KNHANES 2011–2013 data

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Abstract

Purpose

We assessed the association of blood mercury concentration with metabolic and weight phenotypes.

Methods

Blood mercury concentration, metabolic syndrome components, and body mass index (BMI) were measured in 6006 Korean adults (2963 men, 3043 women, mean age 44.7 ± 14.7 years), using the 2011–2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Metabolic and weight phenotypes were classified based on BMI and metabolic syndrome (MetS) presence as metabolically healthy and normal weight (MHNW), metabolically unhealthy and normal weight (MUNW), metabolically healthy and obese (MHO), and metabolically unhealthy and obese (MUO).

Results

The geometric mean of blood mercury concentration was 3.37 μg/L (95% CI 3.32–3.43). A higher quartile of blood mercury concentration was associated with older age, male sex, higher education, alcohol use, current smoking, low physical activity, greater energy intake, and hypertension history. After adjusting for confounding factors (age, sex, education, income, health behaviors, and energy intake), blood mercury concentration tended to increase across the MHNW, MUNW, MHO, and MUO groups in all subjects and each sex (P for trend < 0.01). Compared to the lowest mercury quartile group, adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for MHO and MUO in those with the highest mercury quartile were, respectively, 1.67 (1.34, 2.09) and 2.02 (1.59, 2.56) in all subjects: 1.58 (1.25, 1.99) and 1.72 (1.37, 2.16) for men; 1.33 (0.94, 1.88) and 1.90 (1.34, 2.70) for women.

Conclusions

Blood mercury concentration was associated with both metabolic syndrome and obesity, and the association was dose dependent across metabolic and weight phenotypes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, 75 Bokjiro, Busan Jin-Gu, Busan, 47392, South Korea

    Kayoung Lee

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  1. Kayoung Lee
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Correspondence to Kayoung Lee.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2017S1A5B8066096).

Conflict of interest

No conflicts of interests exist.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Lee, K. Blood mercury concentration in relation to metabolic and weight phenotypes using the KNHANES 2011–2013 data. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 91, 185–193 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1269-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1269-0

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