Table 2.

Exposure levels associated with diabetes and hypertension.

Study population, age, reference	Exposure/outcomes
United States, n = 8,722, > 40 years of age; Schwartz et al.³³	OR for abnormal fasting glucose was 1.48, 2.05, comparing urinary cadmium < 1 versus 1.00–1.99 versus > 2 μg/g creatinine, respectively. OR for diabetes was 1.24, 1.45, comparing urinary cadmium < 1 versus 1.00–1.99 versus > 2 μg/g creatinine, respectively.
China, n = 229, 44–87 years of age with type 2 diabetes, mean diabetic duration 8.6 years; Chen et al.³⁴	OR for tubular impairment was 3.34, comparing urinary cadmium < 1 versus > 1 μg/g creatinine; it was increased to 5.56, comparing those with low versus high levels of circulating metallothionein antibody.
Pakistan, n = 238 men, 31–60 years of age with type 2 diabetes, diabetic duration 16 years, 196 controls; Afridi et al.³⁵	Subjects with diabetes had higher levels of cadmium in hair, blood, and urine than did controls. Mean blood (urinary) cadmium was 4.2 (3.2) μg/L among nonsmoker controls and 5.7 (4.6) μg/L among nonsmoker cases.
Torres Strait, Australia, n = 182; Haswell-Elkins et al.³⁶ Korea, n = 1,902; Eum et al.³⁷	A dose response between urinary cadmium and glomerular impairment was observed among subjects with type 2 diabetes after adjusting for confounders. OR for hypertension was 1.51, comparing blood cadmium in the lowest versus the highest tertile.
United States, n = 10,991 > 20 years of age; Tellez-Plaza et al.³⁸	Mean difference in systolic blood pressure between blood cadmium in the 90th versus 10th percentile was 1.36 mmHg (95% CI, −0.28 to 3.00), whereas the mean difference in diastolic blood pressure was 1.68 mmHg (95% CI, 0.57 to 2.78).

OR, odds ratio.