Table 1.

Characteristics of the study participants by quartiles (Q1–Q4) of blood lead in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study–Cardiovascular Cohort (MDCS-CC).

Characteristicsa	Overall	Quartiles of blood lead
		Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	p-Valueb
MDCS-CC	$n=\mathrm{4,172}$	$n=\mathrm{1,040}$	$n=\mathrm{1,042}$	$n=\mathrm{1,044}$	$n=\mathrm{1,046}$
Plaque occurrence in carotid artery	1,482 (36)	317 (30.5)	370 (35.5)	368 (35.3)	427 (40.8)	$<0.001$
Blood lead ($\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{L}$)	25 (1.5–258)	15 (1.5–18)	21 (18–25)	28 (25–33)	42 (33–258)	$<0.001$
Age (y)	$57\pm 5.9$	$57\pm 6.2$	$58\pm 5.8$	$57\pm 5.8$	$57\pm 5.7$	0.30
Sex						$<0.001$
Male	1,651 (40)	227 (22)	348 (33)	472 (45)	604 (58)
Female	2,521 (60)	813 (78)	694 (67)	572 (55)	442 (42)
Menopausal status						0.003
Premenopausal	652 (26)	246 (30)	168 (24)	142 (25)	96 (22)
Postmenopausal	1,862 (74)	564 (70)	526 (76)	427 (75)	345 (78)
Blood cadmium ($\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{L}$)	0.26 (0.034–5.1)	0.22 (0.04–4.2)	0.24 (0.06–4.3)	0.28 (0.04–4.8)	0.33 (0.03–5.1)	$<0.001$
Low education level						0.056
Yes	1,929 (46)	499 (48)	507 (49)	466 (45)	457 (44)
No	2,233 (54)	541 (52)	530 (51)	577 (55)	585 (56)
Low physical activity						0.54
Yes	953 (23)	231 (23)	244 (24)	227 (22)	251 (25)
No	3,118 (77)	782 (77)	775 (76)	796 (78)	765 (75)
Body mass index (${\mathrm{kg}/\mathrm{m}}^2$)	$26\pm 3.8$	$26\pm 4.3$	$26\pm 3.9$	$25\pm 3.5$	$25\pm 3.5$	0.96
Waist circumference (cm)	$83\pm 13$	$81\pm 13$	$82\pm 13$	$84\pm 12$	$85\pm 12$	$<0.001$
Smoking status
Never-smokers	1,678 (40)	532 (51)	479 (46)	364 (35)	303 (29)	$<0.001$
Former smokers	1,404 (34)	331 (32)	314 (30)	401 (38)	358 (34)	$<0.001$
Current smokers	1,090 (26)	177 (17)	249 (24)	279 (27)	385 (37)	$<0.001$
Pack-yearsc	17 (0.06–158)	14.4 (0.1–140)	15 (0.2–93)	16 (0.1–145)	20 (0.06–158)	$<0.001$
Alcohol consumption (g/d)	6.8 (0–105)	3.0 (0–44)	5.3 (0–80)	8.3 (0–86)	13 (0–105)	$<0.001$
Hypertension						$<0.001$
Yes	2,614 (63)	645 (62)	619 (59)	639 (61)	711 (68)
No	1,558 (37)	395 (38)	423 (41)	405 (39)	335 (32)
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	$140\pm 19$	$140\pm 18$	$139\pm 18$	$141\pm 19$	$142\pm 19$	0.0036
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	$87\pm 9.2$	$86\pm 8.7$	$86\pm 9.2$	$87\pm 9.2$	$88\pm 9.7$	$<0.001$
Diabetes mellitus						0.31
Yes	310 (7.4)	91 (8.8)	71 (6.8)	73 (7.0)	75 (7.2)
No	3,862 (92.6)	949 (91.2)	971 (93.2)	971 (93.0)	971 (92.8)
Statin treatment						0.76
Yes	58 (1.4)	13 (1.3)	16 (1.5)	17 (1.6)	12 (1.2)
No	4,114 (98.6)	1,027 (98.7)	1,026 (98.5)	1,027 (98.4)	1,034 (98.8)
Total cholesterol/HDL ratio	$4.7\pm 1.5$	$4.7\pm 1.5$	$4.7\pm 1.4$	$4.8\pm 1.5$	$4.8\pm 1.5$	0.11
HbA1c (%)	4.8 (3.3–12)	4.7 (3.5–12)	4.8 (3.3–11)	4.7 (3.3–12)	4.8 (3.5–12)	0.021
hsCRP (mg/mL)	1.3 (0.09–60)	1.3 (0.09–60)	1.3 (0.09–56)	1.4 (0.09–53)	1.4 (0.09–58)	0.054
${\text{eGFR}}_{\text{cr}}$ ($\mathrm{mL}/\text{min \hspace{0.17em} per \hspace{0.17em}}1{.73\mathrm{m}}^2$)	$76\pm 14$	$76\pm 14$	$75\pm 14$	$76\pm 13$	$76\pm 14$	0.21
Occupation
Blue-collar workers	1,571 (38)	439 (43)	413 (40)	369 (36)	350 (34)	$<0.001$
White-collar workers	2,157 (52)	524 (51)	541 (52)	556 (54)	536 (51)	0.64
Self-employed workers	420 (10)	68 (7)	84 (8)	113 (11)	155 (15)	$<0.001$
History of stroke						0.27
Yes	26 (0.6)	10 (1.0)	7 (0.7)	3 (0.3)	6 (0.6)
No	4,146 (99.4)	1,030 (99.0)	1,035 (99.3)	1,041 (99.7)	1,040 (99.4)
History of myocardial infarction						0.57
Yes	58 (1.4)	13 (1.3)	11 (1.1)	18 (1.7)	16 (1.5)
No	4,114 (98.6)	1,027 (98.7)	1,031 (98.9)	1,026 (98.3)	1,030 (98.5)

Note: Median (range), $\text{mean}\pm \text{SD}$, or n (%) are presented.

^aMissing data: postmenopausal status $n=7$, low education level $n=10$, low physical activity $n=101$, BMI $n=3$, waist $n=3$, pack-years $n=750$, alcohol consumption $n=19$, eGFR $n=65$, and occupation $n=24$. The missing data were relatively evenly distributed by quartiles of blood lead.

^bp-Value obtained using Kruskal-Wallis H test for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables.

^cOnly former and current smokers ($n=\mathrm{1,744}$).