Increased hypertension risk for the elderly with high blood levels of strontium and lead

Hypertension has long been recognized as the global health burden. Heavy metal pollution may be one of the environmental risk factors of hypertension. However, the association remains unclear. We studied the levels of aluminum (Al), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), titanium (Ti), lead (Pb) and cobalt (Co) in whole blood, and the relationship between trace element exposure and hypertension in the elderly community-based Chinese population. A total of 1013 participants from the west of Anhui Province in China were consecutively enrolled in this study in 2016. The general sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyles, disease history and physical examination information were collected by face-to-face survey and physical examination. The levels of ten trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Multivariable logistic regression model was used to assess the association of trace element exposure with the risk of hypertension. Results showed that the odds ratio of hypertension in the highest quartile was 1.811 (95% CI 1.175-2.790, P trend = 0.005) and 1.772 (95% CI 1.121-2.800, P trend = 0.022), respectively, after adjusting for potential confounders, as compared with the lowest quartile of blood Pb and Sr levels.