Open Access
Arsenic Exposure from Drinking Water and QT-Interval Prolongation: Results from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study
Yu Chen1, Fen Wu1, Faruque Parvez2, Alauddin Ahmed3, Mahbub Eunus3, Tyler R. McClintock4, Tazul Islam Patwary3, Tariqul Islam3, Anajan Kumar Ghosal3, Shahidul Islam3, Rabiul Hasan3, Diane Levy2, Golam Sarwar3, Vesna Slavkovich2, Alexander van Geen5, Joseph H. Graziano2, and Habibul Ahsan6
1Departments of Population Health and Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; 2Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA; 3U-Chicago Research Bangladesh, Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh; 4New York University School of Medicine, New York University, New York, New York, USA; 5Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA; 6Departments of Health Studies, Medicine and Human Genetics and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Advance Publication
Abstract
Background: Arsenic exposure from drinking water has been associated with heart disease, but underlying mechanisms are uncertain.
Objective: To evaluate the association between history of arsenic exposure from drinking water and prolongation of heart rate-corrected QT (QTc), PR, and QRS intervals.
Method: We conducted a study of 1,715 participants enrolled at baseline from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study. Arsenic exposure was measured in baseline well water and urine samples, and in urine samples collected during follow-up. Electrocardiogram evaluations were performed during 2005-2010, with an average time since baseline of 5.9 years.
Results: The adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval (CI)] for QTc prolongation, defined as a QTc ≥ 450 ms in men and ≥ 460 ms in women, was 1.17 (1.01, 1.35) for a 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in well water arsenic (108.7 µg/L). The positive association appeared to be limited to women, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.24 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.47) and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.53) for a 1-SD increases in baseline well water and urinary arsenic, respectively, compared with 0.99 (95% CI: 0.73, 1.33) and 0.86 (95% CI: 049, 1.51) in men. There were no apparent associations of baseline well water arsenic or urinary arsenic with PR or QRS prolongation in women or men.
Conclusions: Long-term arsenic exposure from drinking water (average 95 µg/L; range, 0.1-790 µg/L) was associated with subsequent QT-interval prolongation in women. Future longitudinal studies with repeated ECG measurements would be valuable to assess the influence of changes in exposure.
Citation: Chen Y, Wu F, Parvez F, Ahmed A, Eunus M, McClintock TR, Patwary TI, Islam T, Ghosal AK, Islam S, Hasan R, Levy D, Sarwar G, Slavkovich V, van Geen A, Graziano JH, Ahsan H. Environ Health Perspect (): .doi:10.1289/ehp.1205197
Received: March 11, 2012; Accepted: January 31, 2013; Published: February 5, 2013
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