Background: Controversy exists regarding cadmium’s influence on arterial function at the population level.

Methods and results: The associations of cadmium with measures of arterial function were determined in a randomly selected population sample (n=557) from two rural areas with low and high environmental exposure to cadmium. 24-h urinary cadmium excretion was significantly higher in the high compared with the low exposure group (P<0.0001). Aortic pulse wave velocity (P=0.008), brachial pulse pressure (P=0.026) and femoral pulse pressure (P=0.008) were significantly lower in the high exposure group. Femoral distensibility (P<0.0001) and compliance (P=0.0013) were significantly higher at high exposure. By determining associations between measures of arterial function and cadmium exposure across quartiles of the 24-h urinary cadmium excretion (adjusted for sex and age), brachial (P for trend=0.015) and femoral (P for trend=0.018) pulse pressure significantly decreased and femoral distensibility (P for trend=0.008) and compliance (P for trend=0.007) significantly increased with high cadmium excretion. After full adjustment, the partial regression coefficients confirmed these associations. Pulse wave velocity (β=–0.79; P=0.004) and carotid (β=–4.20; P=0.006), brachial (β=–5.43; P=0.0001) and femoral (β=–4.72; P=0.007) pulse pressures correlated negatively, while femoral compliance (β=0.11; P=0.016) and distensibility (β=1.70; P=0.014) correlated positively with cadmium excretion.

Conclusions: Increased cadmium body burden is associated with lower aortic pulse wave velocity, lower pulse pressure throughout the arterial system, and higher femoral distensibility.