Water hardness and cardiovascular mortality in Finland

Abstract

In Finland, where mortality rates of cardiovascular diseases are as a rule among the highest in the world, significant areal differences in these figures are encountered especially between the eastern and western parts of the country. To test the hypothesis that these differences,( the reason of which has long been a subject for a lively debate in Finland), may result from geochemical factors such as variations in the hardness or calcium or magnesium content of well water a correlation analysis was carried out in which the geochemical properties in each of the country's individual administrative districts, or communes (444 in all, excluding Åland) were compared with the percentage of heart diseases among the causes of death from diseases in 1991. The results show a poor or extremely low correlation nation-wide (r ranging from -0.039 to +0.045), indicating a virtual absence of any causal relationship. On the other hand, taken pairwise, the extreme western and eastern provinces, Vaasa andNorthern Karelia, show marked differences both in their geochemical and mortality data, the percentage of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases being markedly lower in the province of Vaasa, where the hardness and the magnesium content of well water (but not the calcium content) are significantly higher (p < 0.001 and 0.002 respectively). This inverse relationship is in line with the supposition that in addition to other factors, geochemical differences may have an effect on mortality.