Ami Zota, GWU – Heavy Metal Exposure

A heavy metal known as cadmium is a common environmental pollutant and a hazard because it is thought to increase the risk of chronic diseases like cancer.

In today’s Academic Minute George Washington University’s Ami Zota explains a new study she did on cadmium and its connection to accelerated aging of human cells—and the risk of developing a serious health problem relatively early in life.

Zota is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Her study on cadmium was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Heavy Metal Exposure: Cadmium

Human exposure to a metal known as cadmium is considered a “major public health concern” by the World Health Organization. Cadmium is a metal that occurs in nature but is also produced by industrial sources to make batteries, pigments and plastics. People can accumulate cadmium by eating food grown in contaminated soil, inhaling cigarette smoke or simply by living near industrial sites. Previous studies have suggested that cadmium can increase the risk that people will suffer from chronic diseases—possibly by shortening bits of DNA called telomeres. Located deep within cells, telomeres are thought to keep the genetic material located on chromosomes from being destroyed.

My colleagues and I recently published the largest study ever done on human exposure to cadmium and telomeres. Scientists believe that when telomeres are shortened by environmental pollutants and other factors, diseases of old age can strike relatively early in life.

In this study, we looked at blood from 6,700 people taking part in a survey of the U.S population conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We looked at the amount of cadmium in the blood and obtained DNA from each sample so that we could measure the length of the telomeres.

We found that people with the highest amounts of cadmium in the blood had telomeres that were about six percent shorter than those in the lowest group—equivalent to an additional 11 years of aging.

This study suggests there may be no safe level of exposure to this heavy metal, which is a widespread pollutant in the United States and around the world.

Read More: Scientific American: Heavy Metal May Age Cells Prematurely

American Journal of Epidemiology