Relation of dietary arsenic and cadmium to obesity and type-2 diabetes

Exposure to environmental chemicals that interfere with glucose and lipid metabolism has been posited as a link between alterations in metabolism leading to obesity and development of type-2 diabetes. Food provides the majority of exposure to environmental toxins such as arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd), both of which have been associated with diabetes. Using National Human Exposure Assessment Survey-Arizona and Arizona Border Survey questionnaires and water and 24-hour duplicate food samples analyzed for As and Cd concentrations, we used mixed models to assess the relation between dietary As and Cd exposure and body mass index (BMI) and type-2 diabetes in a representative population consisting of 118 Hispanics and 137 non-Hispanics. Hispanics had significantly higher dietary As and lower dietary Cd intake than non-Hispanics. In crude linear models, dietary As was a positive predictor of BMI (p=0.008) and dietary Cd was a negative predictor (p=0.016). After adjustment for total energy intake, sex, age, ethnicity and smoking, neither dietary As nor Cd was significantly associated with BMI (p=0.081 and 0.077, respectively). In crude and adjusted logit models, neither dietary As nor Cd was associated with diabetes. Small sample size and short-term dietary exposure measures may have limited our ability to detect statistically significant effects, however, dietary As showed a positive trend with BMI and dietary Cd showed a negative trend. A longitudinal study of chronic exposure is needed to elucidate the health effects of toxic chemicals in food, ethnic differences in dietary exposures, and the need for changes in regulatory policies.