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Mercury exposure not linked with CVD in US adults
Mozaffarian D. N Engl J Med. 2011;364:1116-1125.
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Among more than 170,000 adults living in the United States, mercury exposure was not associated with clinically meaningful adverse CV events, including coronary heart disease, stroke and total CVD, and in actuality, lowered the risk to a non-statistically significant extent after adjustment.
The two cohorts analyzed in the study featured 121,700 female US registered nurses and 51,529 male US health professionals. Of this population, 3,427 individuals (65% women) with incident cases of CVD were matched with risk–set-sampled controls according to sex, age, race and smoking status. All participants had their toenail clippings stored and were sent questionnaires to determine demographic characteristics, fish consumption, CV risk factors and lifestyle habits.
Researchers’ analysis revealed mercury concentrations to be similar between participants (0.23 mcg/g) and controls (0.25 mcg/g). After multivariate analysis, those with higher mercury exposure did not have an increased risk for CVD, including CHD, stroke and total CVD. In fact, compared with the first quintile of mercury exposure, those in the fifth quintile had non-statistically significant lower adjusted RRs in CHD (0.85; 95% CI, 0.69-1.04) stroke (0.84; 95% CI, 0.62-1.14) and total CVD (0.85; 95% CI, 0.72-1.01).
According to the researchers, there was no biologic explanation as to why mercury would induce CV benefit. “These results plausibly reflect the extent to which mercury levels are an indirect, but nonetheless objective, biomarker of fish consumption and its correlates and thus probably provide independent information on how much fish a person consumes, even after adjustment for estimated consumption,” they said.
However, this association should not change efforts to reduce mercury contamination in fish and the environment, which could potentially offset the net CV benefits of fish consumption. “Our findings should also not alter advisories directed toward women who are or may become pregnant or who are nursing, since methylmercury exposure from consumption of specific fish species could cause neurodevelopmental harm, or at least partly offset the neurodevelopmental benefits of fish consumption, in their children,” the researchers said.
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