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Ing-Marie Olsson,¹ Inger Bensryd,² Thomas Lundh,² Helena Ottosson,² Staffan Skerfving,² and Agneta Oskarsson¹

¹Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden; ²Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

Abstract

We studied determinants of cadmium status and kidney function in nonsmoking men and women living on farms in southern Sweden. Median blood Cd (BCd) was 1.8 nmol/L (range, 0.38-18) and median urinary Cd (UCd) was 0.23 nmol/mmol creatinine (range, 0.065-0.99) . The intake of Cd per kilogram body weight did not significantly differ between sexes and did not correlate with BCd or UCd, which may be explained by a low and varying bioavailibility of Cd from food items. However, when a subgroup of the study population, couples of never-smoking men and women, were compared, a lower intake per kilogram body weight was found in the women, but the women had a 1.8 times higher BCd and a 1.4 times higher UCd. The higher female BCd and UCd may be explained by higher absorption due to low iron status. BCd and UCd both increased with age and were higher in the ex-smokers, who had stopped smoking more than 5 years before the study, compared to never-smokers. The contribution of locally produced food to the total Cd intake was relatively low and varied. Males living in areas with low soil Cd had lower UCd than the others. However, Cd levels in kidneys from pigs, fed locally produced cereals, did not predict BCd or UCd in humans at the same farms. The kidney function parameter ß₂-microglobulin-creatinine clearance was related to UCd, whereas urinary protein-HC, N-acetyl-ß-glucoseaminidase or albumin-creatinine clearance was not when age was accounted for. Hence, even at the low exposure levels in this study population, there was an indication of effect on biochemical markers of renal function. Key words: ₁-microglobulin, ß₂-microglobulin, kidney, N-acetyl-ß-glucoseaminidase, protein-HC, serum ferritin. Environ Health Perspect 110:1185-1190 (2002) . [Online 30 September 2002]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2002/110p1185-1190olsson/abstract.html

Address correspondence to I-M. Olsson, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, PO Box 573, BMC, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden. Telephone: +46 18 471 46 79. Fax: +46 18 50 41 44. E-mail: Ing-Marie.Olsson@farmtox.slu.se

Andrejs Schütz, University Hospital, Lund, deceased 30 July 2001, took part in the study up to that date. We thank all the farmers and their families volunteering for sampling and the staff working with animal transportation and in the slaughterhouses (in Helsingborg, Kävlinge, Ugglarp, Kristianstad, and Kalmar) .

This study was funded by grants from the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA, Food 21) , the Medical Faculty, Lund University, the County Council of Southern Sweden, and the National Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Received 23 January 2002 ; accepted 26 April 2002.

This article was corrected on 9 October 2002.