title: Cadmium blood/urine levels and blood pressure in workers occupationally exposed to urban stressor.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cadmium (Cd) is a metal, which induces hypertension in animals. This may not be relevant to the human population because the number of studies is inconsistent.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim is to identify an association between levels of blood/urinary cadmium and blood pressure in a group of employees of the municipal police assigned to outdoor activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  349 subjects of both sexes were enrolled and sorted on the basis of gender, job function and smoking habit. Blood and urinary cadmium levels and blood pressure readings were collected for each subject. The data were subjected to statistical evaluation. Pearson correlation coefficient between the variables and a linear regression curve was drawn. After eliminating the confounding factors, the multiple linear regression analysis assessed statistical differences. Associations were considered significant at p < 0.05.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Pearson correlation showed a positive association between urinary cadmium levels and blood pressure especially for groups of women and non-smokers. The simple and multiple linear regression and t-tests confirmed these associations and underlined the influence cadmium has on diastolic blood pressure, higher than systolic blood pressure. No association was found between blood cadmium and blood pressure. In conclusion, we can say that there is a statistically significant association between urinary cadmium and diastolic blood pressure, supporting the hypothesis that cadmium has a long-term effect on diastolic blood pressure (BP).
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology, Medical-Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Caciari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sancini
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tomei
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Antetomaso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tomei
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scala
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sinibaldi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Pastena
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andreozzi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nardone
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Schifano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corbosiero
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capozzella
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Sio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciarrocca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002104:Cadmium / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016495:Police; D014504:Urban Health
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D002104:Cadmium