Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, China.
Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, China.
Chemosphere. 2021 May;271:129569. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129569. Epub 2021 Jan 8.
To explore the effects of occupational aluminium(Al) exposure on workers' cognition through a longitudinal study.
The study population consisted of 276 workers in an Al factory. In 2014, we used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine the plasma aluminium (P-Al) concentration of the workers, and a combined questionnaire to test the workers' cognitive function. Followed-up in 2016, the workers were tested again for cognitive function. Generalized linear regression was used to assess the association between P-Al concentration and cognitive scores, and multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the risk of cognitive decline caused by Al exposure.
Generalized linear regression results showed that a non-significant association was found between the P-Al concentration and cognitive test scores (P > 0.05) in 2014. Two years later, each 10-fold increase in P-Al concentration was inversely associated with the score of Mini-Mental state examination (MMSE) (β: -0.53, 95% CI: -0.86, -0.20) and Fuld object memory evaluation (FOME) (β: -0.93, 95% CI: -1.62, -0.24). Each 10-fold increase in P-Al concentration was inversely associated with MMSE (β: -0.38, 95% CI: -0.74, -0.01) and FOME (β: -1.20, 95% CI: -1.95, -0.45). There was a statistically significant difference in the average annual rate of change of MMSE and FOME with the tertile of P-Al concentration increase (P < 0.05). The multivariable logistic regression results showed that as the P-Al concentration increased, the risk of a FOME score decline increased (P = 0.009).
Continuous occupational Al exposure can damage workers' overall cognitive ability, especially episodic memory function.
通过纵向研究探讨职业性铝暴露对工人认知功能的影响。
研究对象为某铝厂 276 名工人。2014 年，采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定工人血浆铝（P-Al）浓度，并用综合问卷测试工人认知功能。2016 年随访时，再次对工人进行认知功能测试。采用广义线性回归评估 P-Al 浓度与认知评分之间的关系，采用多变量 logistic 回归评估铝暴露导致认知能力下降的风险。
广义线性回归结果显示，2014 年 P-Al 浓度与认知测试评分之间无显著相关性（P>0.05）。两年后，P-Al 浓度每增加 10 倍，简易精神状态检查（MMSE）评分（β：-0.53，95%CI：-0.86，-0.20）和 Fuld 物体记忆评估（FOME）评分（β：-0.93，95%CI：-1.62，-0.24）呈负相关。P-Al 浓度每增加 10 倍，MMSE 评分（β：-0.38，95%CI：-0.74，-0.01）和 FOME 评分（β：-1.20，95%CI：-1.95，-0.45）均呈负相关。MMSE 和 FOME 的平均年变化率与 P-Al 浓度升高的三分位组之间存在统计学差异（P<0.05）。多变量 logistic 回归结果显示，随着 P-Al 浓度的升高，FOME 评分下降的风险增加（P=0.009）。
持续职业性铝暴露可损害工人的整体认知能力，尤其是情景记忆功能。
