Jang Mijung, Kim Dohhee, Lee Seunghee, Kim KyooSang
Department of Research Institute, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
PLoS One. 2025 Mar 10;20(3):e0319557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319557. eCollection 2025.
Risk factors for asthma include genetic, host, and environmental factors such as allergens, smoking, and exposure to chemicals. Heavy metals from air pollution or contaminated water and food can also trigger asthma. This study aimed to identify the biological exposure levels of blood lead, mercury, and cadmium, and determine the association of asthma with single and multiple exposures to these heavy metals using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted between 2008 and 2013. A weighted analysis of 40,328 adults aged ≥ 20 years was conducted. Variables included blood heavy metal levels, health behaviors, demographic characteristics, and asthma status. Logistic regression was used to identify the association between the blood heavy metal levels and the odds ratio (OR) of asthma in adults. The overall asthma prevalence was 3.0%. The geometric mean values for blood lead, mercury, and cadmium were 2.14 μg/dL, 3.72 μg/L, and 0.96 μg/L, respectively. An association between asthma and high blood lead levels was observed, with the highest level group showing a statistically significant association. Blood mercury and cadmium were significantly associated with asthma in the highest quartile of blood levels. After adjusting for the demographic and health behavior variables, significant associations with asthma persisted for the highest quartiles of all heavy metals. Multiple exposures in the highest quartile also showed a significant association with asthma. This study demonstrated a significant association between blood heavy metal levels and asthma in adults, emphasizing the need to reduce exposure to lead, cadmium, and mercury as a preventive measure against asthma in adults.
哮喘的风险因素包括遗传、宿主和环境因素，如过敏原、吸烟以及接触化学物质。空气污染、受污染的水和食物中的重金属也可能引发哮喘。本研究旨在利用2008年至2013年进行的韩国国家健康与营养检查调查（KNHANES）的数据，确定血铅、汞和镉的生物暴露水平，并确定哮喘与这些重金属的单次和多次暴露之间的关联。对40328名年龄≥20岁的成年人进行了加权分析。变量包括血重金属水平、健康行为、人口统计学特征和哮喘状况。采用逻辑回归确定血重金属水平与成人哮喘比值比（OR）之间的关联。总体哮喘患病率为3.0%。血铅、汞和镉的几何平均值分别为2.14μg/dL、3.72μg/L和0.96μg/L。观察到哮喘与高血铅水平之间存在关联，最高水平组显示出统计学上的显著关联。血汞和镉在血水平最高四分位数时与哮喘显著相关。在调整了人口统计学和健康行为变量后，所有重金属最高四分位数与哮喘的显著关联仍然存在。最高四分位数的多次暴露也显示与哮喘有显著关联。本研究表明成人血重金属水平与哮喘之间存在显著关联，强调有必要减少铅、镉和汞的暴露，作为预防成人哮喘的一项措施。
