Relationship between Blood Mercury Level and Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases: Results from the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV) 2008-2009

Abstract

Limited epidemiologic data is available regarding the cardiovascular effects of mercury exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between mercury exposure from fish consumption and cardiovascular disease in a nationally representative sample of Korean adults using the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV 2008~2009). Survey logistic regression models accounting for the complex sampling were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) adjusted for fish consumption frequency, age, education, individual annual income, household annual income, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), alcohol consumption status, and smoking status. The mean blood mercury level in the population was 5.44 μg/L. Trends toward increased blood mercury levels were seen for increased education level (P=0.0011), BMI (P<0.0001), WC (P<0.0001), and fish (i.e., anchovy) consumption frequency (P=0.0007). The unadjusted OR for hypertension in the highest blood mercury quartile was 1.450 [95% confidential interval (CI): 1.106~1.901] times higher than that of the lowest quartile. The fish consumption-adjusted OR for hypertension in the highest blood mercury quartile was 1.550 (95% CI: 1.131~2.123) times higher than that of the lowest quartile, and the OR for myocardial infarction or angina in the highest blood mercury quartile was 3.334 (95% CI: 1.338~8.308) times higher than that of the lowest quartile. No associations were observed between blood mercury levels and stroke. These findings suggest that mercury in the blood may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction or angina in the general Korean population.

Mercury exposure and risk of cardiovascular disease: a nested case-control study in the PREDIMED (PREvention with MEDiterranean Diet) study

“…Many previous studies have investigated the relationship between mercury exposure and cardiovascular disease [11–18, 30]. The majority of findings are null, consistent with our own results.…”

“…The majority of findings are null, consistent with our own results. The few studies that observed positive associations had critical limitations [12, 13, 18, 19]. One case-control study that found a positive association with nonfatal myocardial infarction was retrospective and had higher rates of participation among cases.…”

“…A prospective study found a positive association with incident coronary disease, but with no dose-response relationship, and no association with overall cardiovascular mortality [13]. Two cross-sectional studies found positive associations – one with cardiovascular disease [18], and another with arterial stiffness [19]. Yet cross-sectional designs cannot establish causality, and both of these studies measured blood rather than toenail mercury concentration.…”

Associations of serum n-3 and n-6 PUFA and hair mercury with the risk of incident stroke in men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD)

“…Whether the increased risk is due to true biological effect of the long-chain n-3 PUFA on the aetiology of ischaemic stroke among those with higher exposure to Hg or whether it occurred by chance is not known. However, our results, together with the observations from other cohorts (24)(25)(26) , suggest that Hg exposure has little impact on the risk of stroke.…”

“…Therefore, we also investigated whether Hg exposure is associated with risk of stroke and whether Hg could modify the association between long-chain n-3 PUFA and risk of stroke. Previous studies in populations with lower exposure to Hg have not found an association between Hg exposure and risk of stroke (24)(25)(26) . Furthermore, unlike previous studies, we assessed Hg exposure by measuring the hair Hg concentration, which is considered as the best marker for long-term Hg exposure (27) .…”