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Background@#The 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) is a metabolite of tobacco-specific lung carcinogen that can be found in both smokers and non-smokers.Particularly, NNAL levels of children with a history of exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) are higher than those of adults. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between SHS exposure and urine NNAL levels in Korean adolescents. @*Methods@#This cross-sectional study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII. Overall, 648 never-smoking adolescents (425 boys and 223 girls) aged 12 to 18 were included in this study. Logistic regression analyses identified the relationship between SHS exposure and elevated urine NNAL levels. @*Results@#The mean urine NNAL levels of the no exposure and exposure group in boys were 1.39 and 2.26 ng/mL, respectively, whereas they were 1.01 and 2.45 ng/mL in girls, respectively (P < 0.001). Among the adolescents exposed to SHS, the confounder-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for elevated urine NNAL levels according to exposure area as overall, home, and public area were 2.68 (1.58–4.53), 31.02 (9.46–101.74), and 1.89 (1.12–3.17) in boys;and 6.50 (3.22–13.11), 20.09 (7.08–57.04), and 3.94 (1.98–7.77) in girls, respectively. @*Conclusion@#SHS exposure was significantly associated with elevated urine NNAL levels in Korean adolescents, particularly in female adolescents and in those with home exposure.These findings remind us of the need to protect adolescents from SHS.
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Background@#The 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) is a metabolite of tobacco-specific lung carcinogen that can be found in both smokers and non-smokers.Particularly, NNAL levels of children with a history of exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) are higher than those of adults. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between SHS exposure and urine NNAL levels in Korean adolescents. @*Methods@#This cross-sectional study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII. Overall, 648 never-smoking adolescents (425 boys and 223 girls) aged 12 to 18 were included in this study. Logistic regression analyses identified the relationship between SHS exposure and elevated urine NNAL levels. @*Results@#The mean urine NNAL levels of the no exposure and exposure group in boys were 1.39 and 2.26 ng/mL, respectively, whereas they were 1.01 and 2.45 ng/mL in girls, respectively (P < 0.001). Among the adolescents exposed to SHS, the confounder-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for elevated urine NNAL levels according to exposure area as overall, home, and public area were 2.68 (1.58–4.53), 31.02 (9.46–101.74), and 1.89 (1.12–3.17) in boys;and 6.50 (3.22–13.11), 20.09 (7.08–57.04), and 3.94 (1.98–7.77) in girls, respectively. @*Conclusion@#SHS exposure was significantly associated with elevated urine NNAL levels in Korean adolescents, particularly in female adolescents and in those with home exposure.These findings remind us of the need to protect adolescents from SHS.
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BACKGROUND: Exposure to mercury is known to affect the nervous system and cardiovascular system, but effects of chronic exposure to mercury remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of high blood mercury concentrations on the health of patients living in the Yeong-dong region.METHODS: We analyzed the relationship between blood mercury concentration and cardiovascular risk and neuropathic symptoms for 555 patients whose blood mercury concentration was tested from 1999 to 2017. We analyzed the association of each lipid component and blood mercury concentration through a partial correlation method. We performed an analysis to determine the odds ratios (ORs) of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity to high blood mercury levels through a logistic regression model. We analyzed the association between mercury levels and neuropathic symptoms using a χ² test and calculated the OR.RESULTS: The average blood mercury concentration was 8.1±7.5 µg/L and 5.5±5.2 µg/L for males and females, respectively. There was a positive correlation of mercury concentration with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r, 0.268, 0.219; P-value, <0.001). Among other cardiovascular disease risk factors, no significant correlation was found with high blood mercury level. A tingling sensation in females was related to a high blood mercury level (OR, 2.080; 95% confidence interval, 1.119–3.866).CONCLUSION: It was found that higher mercury concentrations could affect high-density lipoprotein cholesterol regardless of sex and can cause a tingling sensation in women.