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Association of soil arsenic and nickel exposure with cancer mortality rates, a town-scale ecological study in Suzhou, China

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Abstract

Heavy metals and arsenic are well-known carcinogens. However, few studies have examined whether soil heavy metals and arsenic concentrations associate with cancer in the general population. In this ecological study, we aimed to evaluate the association of heavy metals and arsenic in soil with cancer mortality rates during 2005–2010 in Suzhou, China, after controlling for education and smoking prevalence. In 2005, a total of 1683 soil samples with a sampling density of one sample every 4 km2 were analyzed. Generalized linear model with a quasi-Poisson regression was applied to evaluate the association between town-scale cancer mortality rates and soil heavy metal concentrations. Results showed that soil arsenic exposure had a significant relationship with colon, gastric, kidney, lung, and nasopharyngeal cancer mortality rates and soil nickel exposure was significantly associated with liver and lung cancer. The associations of soil arsenic and nickel exposure with colon, gastric, kidney, and liver cancer in male were higher than those in female. The observed associations of soil arsenic and nickel with cancer mortality rates were less sensitive to alternative exposure metrics. Our findings would contribute to the understanding of the carcinogenic effect of soil arsenic and nickel exposure in general population.

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Abbreviations

As:

Arsenic

Ni:

Nickel

glm:

Generalized linear model

RR:

Relative risks

CI:

Confidence interval

ppm:

Parts per million

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Jiangsu Science and Technology Supporting Project (BE2013720) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271014 and 41171411).

Conflict of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Kai Chen, Zong Wei Ma, Jun Bi & Lei Huang

  2. Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, China

    Qi Lin Liao, Yang Jin & Ming Hua

Authors
  1. Kai Chen
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  2. Qi Lin Liao
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  3. Zong Wei Ma
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  4. Yang Jin
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  5. Ming Hua
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  6. Jun Bi
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  7. Lei Huang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun Bi or Lei Huang.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Kai Chen and Qi Lin Liao contributed equally to this work.

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Chen, K., Liao, Q.L., Ma, Z.W. et al. Association of soil arsenic and nickel exposure with cancer mortality rates, a town-scale ecological study in Suzhou, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 5395–5404 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3790-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3790-y

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