Background: Cross-sectional studies have shown associations between arsenic exposure and prevalence of high blood pressure; however, studies examining the relationship of arsenic exposure with longitudinal changes in blood pressure are lacking.
Method: We evaluated associations of arsenic exposure in relation to longitudinal change in blood pressure in 10,853 participants in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS). Arsenic was measured in well water and in urine samples at baseline and in urine samples every 2 years after baseline. Mixed-effect models were used to estimate the association of baseline well and urinary creatinine-adjusted arsenic with annual change in blood pressure during follow-up (median, 6.7 years).
Result: In the HEALS population, the median water arsenic concentration at baseline was 62 μg/L. Individuals in the highest quartile of baseline water arsenic or urinary creatinine-adjusted arsenic had a greater annual increase in systolic blood pressure compared with those in the reference group (β = 0.48 mmHg/year; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.61, and β = 0.43 mmHg/year; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.56 for water arsenic and urinary creatinine-adjusted arsenic, respectively) in fully adjusted models. Likewise, individuals in the highest quartile of baseline arsenic exposure had a greater annual increase in diastolic blood pressure for water arsenic and urinary creatinine-adjusted arsenic, (β = 0.39 mmHg/year; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.49, and β = 0.45 mmHg/year; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.55, respectively) compared with those in the lowest quartile.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that long-term arsenic exposure may accelerate age-related increases in blood pressure. These findings may help explain associations between arsenic exposure and cardiovascular disease.
1Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; 2Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; 3U-Chicago Research Bangladesh Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh; 4The Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; 5Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; 6Department of Health Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA; 7Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA; 8Department of Medicine, 9Department of Human Genetics, and 10Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Recommended Citation:
Jieying Jiang,1 Mengling Liu,1 Faruque Parvez,et al. Association between Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water and Longitudinal Change in Blood Pressure among HEALS Cohort Participants[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2015-01-01,Volume 123(Issue 8):806