Abstract
Purpose: Mercury exposure has been associated with the risk of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease in previous adult studies. However, there is little research on pediatric populations on this subject. We aimed to assess the associations between total blood mercury concentrations and lipid profiles in Korean adolescents. Methods: The study population comprised 1,890 adolescents (963 boys and 927 girls; aged 10-19 years), who participated and obtained fasting blood samples for blood mercury concentrations and lipid profiles in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2010-2013, 2016. We analyzed the distribution of lipid profiles and prevalence of dyslipidemia according to total blood mercury concentrations. Results: The geometric mean of the total blood mercury levels were 1.97 and 1.83 μg/L in boys and girls, respectively. As the blood mercury concentration increases, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels significantly increased. However, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels did not show significant associations with total blood mercury levels. The prevalence of hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia also significantly increased in the highest blood mercury quartile group compared with the lowest group (8.9% vs. 5.1%, P-for-trend = 0.002). After adjusting for the covariates including obesity, those in the highest total blood mercury quartile were found to be at an increased risk of hypercholesterolemia than in the lowest quartile in boys [odds ratios (95% confidential interval): 3.72 (1.03-13.4)]. The association between total blood mercury quartile and the risk of hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia showed a positive linear relationship after controlling for the covariates in boys [Quartile 2 = 7.5, Quartile 3 = 10.3, Quartile 4 = 16.3]. Conclusion: Our results suggest the potential association between mercury exposure and the risk of hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia in adolescents. Keywords: Adolescent, Blood, Mercury, Dyslipidemia
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