Environmental exposure to metal mixtures and linear growth in healthy Ugandan children

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 5; p. e0233108
• Main Authors: Moody, Emily C, Colicino, Elena, Wright, Robert O, Mupere, Ezekiel, Jaramillo, Ericka G, Amarasiriwardena, Chitra, Cusick, Sarah E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 15.05.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Age; Arsenic; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood; Blood levels; Body Height; Body Weight; Cadmium; Cadmium - blood; Cadmium - toxicity; Child development; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease control; Environmental aspects; Environmental Exposure; Environmental health; Environmental toxicology; Essential nutrients; Exposure; Female; Growth disorders; Growth Disorders - blood; Growth Disorders - epidemiology; Growth Disorders - etiology; Health aspects; Health care; Heat affected zone; Heavy metals; Hospitals; Humans; Infant; Laboratories; Lead; Lead - blood; Lead - toxicity; Linear Models; Low income groups; Male; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metals (Materials); Metals - blood; Metals - toxicity; Neighborhoods; Nutrients; Nutritional Status; Pediatric research; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Population; Public health; Public health movements; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk factors; Selenium; Selenium (Chemical element); Selenium - blood; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Statistical significance; Statistics; Studies; Toxins; Uganda; Zinc; Zinc - blood; Zinc - toxicity; Uganda; New York; United States > US; Kampala Uganda
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233108

Stunting is an indicator of poor linear growth in children and is an important public health problem in many countries. Both nutritional deficits and toxic exposures can contribute to lower height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) and stunting (HAZ < -2). In a community-based cross-sectional sample of 97 healthy children ages 6-59 months in Kampala, Uganda, we examined whether exposure to Pb, As, Cd, Se, or Zn were associated with HAZ individually or as a mixture. Blood samples were analyzed for a mixture of metals, which represent both toxins and essential nutrients. The association between HAZ and metal exposure was tested using multivariable linear regression and Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression, which uses mixtures of correlated exposures as a predictor. There were 22 stunted children in the sample, mean HAZ was -0.74 (SD = 1.84). Linear regression showed that Pb (β = -0.80, p = 0.021) and Se (β = 1.92, p = 0.005) were significantly associated with HAZ. The WQS models separated toxic elements with a presumed negative effect on HAZ (Pb, As, Cd) from essential nutrients with presumed positive effect on HAZ (Se and Zn). The toxic mixture was significantly associated with lower HAZ (β = -0.47, p = 0.03), with 62% of the effect from Pb. The nutrient WQS index did not reach statistical significance (β = -0.47, p = 0.16). Higher blood lead and lower blood selenium level were both associated with lower HAZ. The significant associations by linear regression were reinforced by the WQS models, although not all associations reached statistical significance. These findings suggest that healthy children in this neighborhood of Kampala, Uganda, who have a high burden of toxic exposures, may experience detrimental health effects associated with these exposures in an environment where exposure sources are not well characterized.