Early-Life Cadmium Exposure and Bone-Related Biomarkers: A Longitudinal Study in Children.

Abstract

Background:Chronic cadmium exposure has been associated with osteotoxicity in adults, but little is known concerning its effects on early growth, which has been shown to be impaired by cadmium.Objectives:Our objective was to assess the impact of early-life cadmium exposure on bone-related biomarkers and anthropometry at 9 y of age.Methods:For 504 children in a mother–child cohort in Bangladesh, cadmium exposure was assessed by concentrations in urine (U-Cd, long-term exposure) and erythrocytes (Ery-Cd, ongoing exposure) at 9 and 4.5 y of age, and in their mothers during pregnancy. Biomarkers of bone remodeling [urinary deoxypyridinoline (DPD), urinary calcium, plasma parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin, vitamin D3, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1, IGF binding protein 3, thyroid stimulating hormone] were measured at 9 y of age.Results:In multivariable-adjusted linear models, a doubling of concurrent U-Cd was associated with a mean increase in osteocalcin of (95% CI: 0.042, 5.9) and in urinary DPD of (95% CI: 12, 32). In a combined exposure model, a doubling of maternal Ery-Cd was associated with a mean increase in urinary DPD of (95% CI: , 30). Stratifying the osteocalcin model by gender ( 0.001), a doubling of concurrent U-Cd was associated with a mean decrease in osteocalcin of (95% CI: , ) in boys and a mean increase of (95% CI: 5.4, 13) in girls. The same pattern was seen with U-Cd at 4.5 y of age ( 0.016). Children’s U-Cd and Ery-Cd, concurrent and at 4.5 y of age, were inversely associated with vitamin D3.Conclusions:Childhood cadmium exposure was associated with several bone-related biomarkers and some of the associations differed by gender. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3655