title: Low bone density and renal dysfunction following environmental cadmium exposure in China.
abstract: This paper presents the main findings of a study on health effects of environmental cadmium pollution in China, performed in 1998, i.e. approximately 25 years after the first warnings of such effects were published in Ambio. Forearm bone mineral density (BMD) and renal dysfunction were assessed in population groups exposed to cadmium via rice. Decreased BMD was found in postmenopausal women with elevated urinary cadmium (CdU) or cadmium in blood (CdB) and among men with elevated CdB. Also, clear and statistically significant dose-effect and dose-response relationships were found between CdB or CdU and renal dysfunction (increased excretion of retinol-binding protein). This is the first report of bone effects among Cd-exposed population groups in Asia outside Japan. The report is also of interest since it demonstrates that bone effects, a comparatively severe adverse health effect of Cd, in combination with renal dysfunction, still occurs in environmentally exposed population groups in Asia. Recent reports on bone effects in Cd-exposed population groups in Europe are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden. Gunnar.Nordberg@envmed.umu.se
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nordberg
authors.forename: Taiyi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fierens
authors.forename: Jean Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Buchet
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Qinghu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Hongfu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015519:Bone Density; D002104:Cadmium / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D011634:Public Health
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium