Environmental exposure to cadmium and renal function of aged women in three areas of Belgium

The relationship between environmental cadmium pollution and prevalence of signs of renal disturbance was investigated. Women over 60 years of age who had spent the major part of their life in a cadmium-polluted area in Belgium (Liège, n = 60) and who had never been occupationally exposed to cadmium constituted the “exposed” group. Women living in two areas less polluted by cadmium (Charleroi, n = 70, and Brussels, n = 45) served as “control” groups. The group of aged women from the Liège area has on the average a higher cadmium body burden, as reflected by an increased excretion of cadmium in urine, than the groups of aged women in the two other areas. The parameters selected for evaluating renal function (urinary excretion rates of total protein, amino acids, β₂-microglobulin, albumin) follow the same trend. Furthermore, a statistically significant correlation was found between the urinary excretion rate of cadmium and that of total protein, amino acids, β₂-microglobulin, and albumin. The results suggest that environmental pollution by cadmium as found in some industrialized areas in Europe may exacerbate the age-related decline of renal function in population groups nonoccupationally exposed to heavy metals.