Urinary neonicotinoid exposure and its association with hypertension and dyslipidemia among the elderly: A cross-sectional study in Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

In recent years, neonicotinoids (NEOs) as a new type of insecticide have been increasingly used worldwide, causing significant impacts on human health. This study collected urine samples from 1147 elderly individuals (including 714 in the control group and 433 in the hypertension group) in Shenzhen, China, and detected the concentrations of six types of NEOs and four metabolites of NEOs (mNEOs). The aim of this study is to investigate the association between NEOs exposure and hypertension and dyslipidemia. After measurement, we find that the lowest detection rate (DR) among NEOs is imidacloprid (IMI), at only 39.3%. The NEO with the highest urine median concentration is dinotefuran (DIN) (1.31 μg/L), while the mNEO with the highest median concentration is DM-ACE (2.74 μg/L). Through univariate analysis, we found that DM-THM may promote the development of hypertension, while logistic regression indicated that IMI-OF could be a risk factor for hypertension. As prototypes of these two metabolites, thiamethoxam (THM) and IMI may also be risk factors for hypertension. Linear regression analysis revealed a negative correlation between the concentration of thiamethoxam (THD) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level, while DIN was positively correlated with triglyceride (TG) level and negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level. Mediation effect analysis showed that THD may influence the risk of hypertension in the elderly by affecting LDL level. Based on this study, we believe that exposure to NEOs may increase the risk of hypertension in the elderly population.