Inverse association between toenail arsenic and body mass index in a population of welders.
Recent data show that arsenic may play a role in obesity-related diseases. However, urinary arsenic studies report an inverse association between arsenic level and body mass index (BMI). We explored whether toenail arsenic, a long-term exposure measure, was associated with BMI in 74 welders with known arsenic exposure. BMI showed significant inverse associations with toenail arsenic (p=0.01), which persisted in models adjusted for demographics, diet and work history. It is unclear whether low arsenic biomarker concentrations in high BMI subjects truly reflect lower exposures, or instead reflect internal or metabolic changes that alter arsenic metabolism and tissue deposition.
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Electronic address: rgrashow@hsph.harvard.edu.
Rachel
R
Grashow
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Jinming
J
Zhang
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA; New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA, USA.
Shona C
SC
Fang
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Marc G
MG
Weisskopf
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
David C
DC
Christiani
Department of Public Health, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
Molly L
ML
Kile
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA.
Jennifer M
JM
Cavallari
D000328:Adult; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009262:Nails / Q000737:chemistry; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D014896:Welding
D001151:Arsenic
Arsenic; BMI; Metals; Occupational health; Toenail; Welding fume