title: Cadmium intake and systemic exposure in postmenopausal women and age-matched men who smoke cigarettes.
abstract: Mean blood cadmium (B-Cd) concentrations are two- to threefold higher in smokers than in nonsmokers. The basis for this phenomenon is not well understood. We conducted a detailed, multifaceted study of cadmium exposure in smokers. Groups were older smokers (62±4 years, n = 25, 20% male) and nonsmokers (62±3 years, n = 16, 31% male). Each subject's cigarettes were machine smoked, generating individually paired measures of inhaled cadmium (I-Cd) versus B-Cd; I-Cd and B-Cd were each evaluated three times, at monthly intervals. Urine cadmium (U-Cd) was analyzed for comparison. In four smokers, a duplicate-diet study was conducted, along with a kinetic study of plasma cadmium versus B-Cd. Female smokers had a mean B-Cd of 1.21ng Cd/ml, with a nearly 10-fold range (0.29-2.74ng Cd/ml); nonsmokers had a lower mean B-Cd, 0.35ng Cd/ml (p < 0.05), and narrower range (0.20-0.61ng Cd/ml). Means and ranges for males were similar. Estimates of cadmium amounts inhaled daily for our subjects smoking ≥ 20 cigarettes/day were far less than the 15 µg Cd reported to be ingested daily via diet. This I-Cd amount was too low to alone explain the 3.5-fold elevation of B-Cd in our smokers, even assuming greater cadmium absorption via lungs than gastrointestinal tract; cadmium accumulated in smokers' lungs may provide the added cadmium. Finally, B-Cd appeared to be linearly related to I-Cd values in 75% of smokers, whereas 25% had far higher B-Cd, implying a possible heterogeneity among smokers regarding circulating cadmium concentrations and potentially cadmium toxicity.
authors: Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Ebert-McNeill
authors: Sara P
authors: SP
authors: Clark
authors: James J
authors: JJ
authors: Miller
authors: Paige
authors: P
authors: Birdsall
authors: Manisha
authors: M
authors: Chandar
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Wu
authors: Elizabeth A
authors: EA
authors: Cerny
authors: Patricia H
authors: PH
authors: Hall
authors: Maribeth H
authors: MH
authors: Johnson
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Isales
authors: Norman
authors: N
authors: Chutkan
authors: Maryka H
authors: MH
authors: Bhattacharyya
mesh_terms: D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000378:metabolism*; D012906:Smoke / Q000009:adverse effects; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D012906:Smoke