Indoor and outdoor particulate matter and serum levels of lead and cadmium among Korean housewives: a panel study

Abstract

Introduction Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are heavy metals that could cause harmful health effects to humans. It is known that particulate matter ≤μg (PM2.5) contains heavy metals, but whether they are significantly associated with body burden of heavy metals has yet been studied. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to particulate matter and serum concentration of Pb and Cd. Methods A total of 101 housewives living in 2 Korean urban communities were recruited and were examined repeatedly 2 times during a 1-year period. We obtained lifestyle information including the time-activity pattern and dietary habits. and collected the blood samples of participants at the baseline for measuring serum concentration of Pb and CD. We measured indoor PM2.5 by using Gravimetric methods for a week before each examination, and indoor PM2.5 by using the IoT smart sensor gadget between examinations. Results Exposure to particulate matter was significantly associated with serum Pb and serum Cd of Korean housewives, by using linear mixed model for considering repeated measurements. In crude analysis, 2-fold increase of PM2.5 was associated with 0.089 ug/L increase of serum Pb and 0.097 ug/L increase of serum Cd. Discussion Our study shows significant association between air pollution and serum Cd and Pb, with the precise measurement of particulate matter. This result suggest that additional body burden of heavy metals caused by air pollution. More precautionary policy for potential health hazard of particulate matter on housewives are necessary to protect the health of women.