ArticleHypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)2012
Mercury exposure and risk of hypertension in US men and women in 2 prospective cohorts.
Article in Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Re-thinking the link between exposure to mercury and blood pressure.Archives of toxicology · 2025Pooled it
- Seafood Long-Chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Disease: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2018Guideline
- Mercury Exposure, Blood Pressure, and Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Dose-response Meta-analysis.Environmental health perspectives · 2018Pooled it
- Mercury exposure and risk of cardiovascular disease: a nested case-control study in the PREDIMED (PREvention with MEDiterranean Diet) study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2017Trial
- Endocrine-disrupting chemicals exposure: cardiometabolic health risk in humans.Cardiovascular diabetology · 2025Review
- Associations between mercury exposure with blood pressure and lipid levels: A cross-sectional study of dental professionals.Environmental research · 2023Article
- Dietary Reference Intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for Koreans.Nutrition research and practice · 2022Review
- A Prospective Study of Toenail Trace Element Levels and Risk of Skin Cancer.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2019Article
- Association between heavy metal levels and acute ischemic stroke.Journal of biomedical science · 2018Article
- Methyl mercury, but not inorganic mercury, associated with higher blood pressure during pregnancy.Environmental research · 2017Article
- Managing mercury exposure in northern Canadian communities.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2016Review
- Article
- Serum long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of orthostatic hypotension.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2016Article
- Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity: A Comprehensive Review.Circulation · 2016Review
- Health effects associated with measured levels of contaminants in the Arctic.International journal of circumpolar health · 2016Article
- Serum long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated Fatty acids and future blood pressure in an ageing population.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2015Article
- The influence of obesity on blood mercury levels for U.S. non-pregnant adults and children: NHANES 2007-2010.Environmental research · 2015Article
- Emerging risk biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases and disorders.Journal of lipids · 2015Review
- Seafood consumption and blood mercury concentrations in adults aged ≥20 y, 2007-2010.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2014Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Cross-sectional studies and animal experiments suggest that methylmercury exposure could increase the risk of hypertension. This relationship has not been evaluated in large prospective studies. Using data from previous nested case-control studies in 2 separate prospective cohorts, we measured toenail mercury, a valid biomarker of long-term methylmercury exposure, among 6045 US men and women free of hypertension at baseline. Geometric mean toenail mercury concentrations were 0.08 μg/g in the lowest quintile and 0.74 μg/g in the highest quintile, the latter corresponding with exposures ≈2.0-fold higher than the US Environmental Protection Agency reference dose. Participants were followed prospectively (mean±SD follow-up, 14.9±7.9 years) for a new self-report of physician-diagnosed hypertension (3540 cases), shown to be >95% sensitive and specific for diagnosing hypertension in these cohorts as compared with review of medical charts and direct blood pressure measurement, respectively. After adjustment for demographic, clinical, and lifestyle risk factors, the hazard ratio (95% CI) for incident hypertension in the highest versus lowest quintile of mercury exposure was 0.96 (0.84-1.09) in women, 0.82 (0.62-1.08) in men, and 0.94 (0.84-1.06) in both cohorts combined. Findings were similar when more extreme categories of mercury were compared (across deciles, with geometric mean levels in highest decile ≈2.9-fold higher than the reference dose) and in analyses stratified by fish or omega-3 consumption, selenium levels, body mass index, and age. These findings from 2 separate large prospective cohort studies do not support any clinically apparent adverse effects of methylmercury exposure on the risk of hypertension in men or women, including at levels ≤2.5-fold higher than the reference dose.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.