Abstract
Studies have indicated that metal exposure is associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, it is unclear whether overexposure to heavy metals occurs in miners and is associated with MetS risk remains unclear. In a cross-sectional study, analysis for metal exposure levels of 3428 participants from three types of workplaces was conducted. Relationships between metals in urine and MetS were characterized using a multivariate binary logistic regression model and restricted cubic spline analysis. The association between urinary metals and workplaces with respect to MetS was studied via mediation analysis and multiplicative interaction analysis. And a sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of the association between MetS and urinary metals in participants without obesity (n = 2811). Zn, Cu, Fe, Co, and Ni were found to be associated with MetS in the single-metal models, whereas only Zn and Cu showed considerable associations in the multimetal model. The odds ratios (95% CI) for MetS in the highest quartiles were 2.089 (1.611, 2.707) for urinary Zn and 1.394 (1.084, 1.794) for urinary Cu (both false discovery rate for both was < 0.05). Urinary Zn and Cu were positively associated with hypertriglyceridemia. In addition, higher Zn exposure was confirmed in underground workers than ground workers and office workers, and there was a significant association between urinary metal exposure and workplace, which together influenced the occurrence of MetS. These results provided scientific evidence for the relationship between Zn, Cu, workplaces, and MetS in coal workers and indicated that it is critical to reduce occupational metal exposure, especially in underground workers.
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The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
Authors appreciate all interviewers and relevant management staff for survey data collection work and the support of Key Laboratory of Nervous System Disease Prevention and Treatment under Health Commission of Shanxi Provincial and Sinopharm Tongmei General Hospital.
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This study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (21906100, 81872715, 82073674) and the Applied Basic Research Project of Shanxi Province (201901D211333).
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All listed authors qualify for authorship based on making one or more substantial contributions to the intellectual content; the metal element detection of the study was performed by Ben Li, Qianwen Zhang, **aohan Chang, Yongmei Shen, Ting Liu, and **aomin Liang; the investigation of the study was performed by Ben Li, Qianwen Zhang, Jianjun Huang, and **zhu Yin; the Formal analysis of the study was performed by Ben Li, Qianwen Zhang, Qian Gao, Liangpo Liu, Yulan Qiu, **aoyan Yan, and Tong Wang; the writing—original draft of the study was written by Ben Li and Qianwen Zhang; the writing—review and editing of the study was written by Ben Li, Liangpo Liu, Yulan Qiu, **aoyan Yan, and Tong Wang; the funding acquisition of the study was performed by Ben Li, Jianjun Huang, **zhu Yin, and Tong Wang; the project administration and supervision of the study was performed by Jianjun Huang, **zhu Yin, and Tong Wang; and the software of the study was provided by Tong Wang. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Li, B., Zhang, Q., Chang, X. et al. Association of urinary metal levels with metabolic syndrome in coal workers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 62892–62904 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26452-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26452-0