NIEHS partners with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to support research showing that reducing lead exposure among American Indians can improve heart health. The paper was published on January 11 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
![Characteristics of the built environment may contribute to elevated levels of lead exposure in tribal communities. (Image courtesy of Shutterstock)](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/01/feature/lead-blood-pressure-body1.jpg)
NIH-backed research team links decade-long decline in blood lead levels in American Indian adults to long-term cardiovascular health benefits, including lower blood pressure levels and improvements in markers associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and heart failure reduce. They found that adults whose blood lead levels fell the most experienced a drop in systolic blood pressure of about 7 millimeters of mercury, an amount comparable to the effect of antihypertensive drugs.
![Dr. Lindsay Martin](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/01/feature/lead-blood-pressure-body2.jpg)
NIEHS is pleased to support grantees Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, and Wil Lieberman-Cribbin, both of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, as members of the multidisciplinary research team working on this important study member. project. The NIEHS grantee’s many responsibilities include writing the paper, including helping to ensure equal numbers of male and female participants in the study sample.
“We are excited to participate in this study,” said Lindsey Martin, Ph.D., health scientist administrator in the NIEHS Division of Population Health. “Having our Environmental Health grantees working side-by-side with Long-Term Strong Heart Study researchers will help reveal the important role environmental factors play in health.”
Public health efforts to reduce lead exposure are working
“This is a huge win for public health, especially since many American Indians may be at higher risk for elevated lead levels,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Anne Nigra, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. Mailman School of Public Health.
Niguera and the study authors attribute these improvements in large part to public health policies and efforts implemented in recent decades to reduce lead exposure in paint, gasoline, water, pipes and canned foods.
“American Indian communities have a higher burden of cardiovascular disease and higher exposure to metals than the general U.S. population,” she noted. “We found that even a small decrease in a person’s blood lead levels can have detrimental effects. Meaningful health outcomes.”
How the NHLBI/NIEHS study was conducted
![Illustration of heart looking in the mirror. February is American Fireplace Month #OurHearts](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/01/feature/lead-blood-pressure-body3.jpg)
Researchers worked with 285 American Indian adults in the Strong Heart Family Study, an extension of the Strong Heart Study, the largest and longest study of cardiovascular health outcomes and risk factors in American Indian adults. . Participants lived in one of four tribal communities in Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota, or South Dakota. The authors explain that characteristics of the built environment may contribute to elevated lead exposure levels in tribal communities. This includes exposure to lead through well water, local waterways, food (including canned goods, herbs and spices), and paint and dust.
In this retrospective review, researchers looked at blood lead levels and blood pressure readings over time. Lead levels were first measured in blood collected during study visits in 1997 to 1999 and again during follow-up visits in 2006 to 2009. During these visits, participants had their blood pressure measured and participated in medical exams including an echocardiogram, a test that evaluates the structure and function of the heart. To support equal comparisons among participants, the researchers controlled for a variety of factors, including social variables such as education and income, cardiovascular disease risk and medical history.
At the start of the study, the average blood lead level was 2.04 µg/dL. Over the course of the study, average blood lead levels fell by 0.67 µg/dL, or 33%. The most significant change occurred among participants with an average starting blood lead level of 3.21 µg/dL, with a decrease of approximately 1.78 µg/dL, or 55%. This decrease was associated with a 7 mmHg decrease in systolic blood pressure.
More needs to be done
![On February 2, join NHLBI, The Heart Truth® and organizations across the country in bringing attention to heart disease by wearing red. (Image provided by NHLBI)](https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/sites/niehs-factor/files/2024/01/feature/lead-blood-pressure-body4.jpg)
The researchers noted the importance of conducting this study in other communities, particularly among populations at higher risk for lead exposure and cardiovascular disease.
“These findings clearly demonstrate the importance of preventing lead exposure, but more research is needed to determine how environmental factors exacerbate cardiovascular and other diseases, and more needs to be done to improve environments for American Indians,” Martin said. healthy.”
(Robin Mackar is a writer and media relations coordinator in the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison.)