Prospective associations of childhood metal mixtures with metabolic health in a Mexico City cohort.
6 affiliations
- 1Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University, New York City, New York.
- 2Environmental Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
- 3National Institute of Perinatology, Mexico City, Mexico.
- 4Health Department, Iberoamerican University, Mexico City, Mexico.
- 5Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Environmental Medicine, New York City, New York.
- 6National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, Center for Research in Nutrition and Health, Mexico City, Mexico.
Abstract
Background
Exposures to several metals and metalloids have been linked to impaired fasting glucose and insulin resistance that can progress to type 2 diabetes (T2D), which is increasing in prevalence among children and adolescents. However, the effects of metal mixtures on children's metabolic health are less well characterized. We examined prospective associations of metals, individually and jointly, with metabolic parameters among children without T2D.Methods
We analyzed data from 422 children enrolled in the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stressors (PROGRESS) cohort (Mexico City, 2007-2011). Eleven metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cesium, lead, antimony, cobalt, copper, manganese, selenium, zinc) were measured in whole blood at the age 4-year visit. Fasting plasma glucose was measured at the 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year visits. Fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and β-cell function (HOMA-β) were determined at the 8- and 10-year visits. Associations were estimated using generalized additive mixed models, linear mixed models, and quantile g-computation.Results
All metal-outcome associations were linear. Selenium was positively associated with average fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR; zinc was negatively associated with insulin and HOMA-IR. A quartile increase in the metal mixture was associated with 1.10-fold higher insulin (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01, 1.21) and 1.11-fold higher HOMA-IR (95% CI = 1.01, 1.22), with the largest contributions from selenium and arsenic.Conclusion
Early childhood metals, particularly selenium, zinc, and arsenic, were prospectively associated with insulin resistance, consistent with findings in adults. More work is needed to understand how early-life metal mixture exposures may affect metabolic health.
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BibTeX
@article{gigot2026prospective,
title = {{Prospective associations of childhood metal mixtures with metabolic health in a Mexico City cohort.}},
author = {Carolyn Gigot and Pei Wen Tung and Haotian Wu and Guadalupe Estrada-Gutierrez and Mari Cruz Tolentino and Alejandra Cantoral and Julio Landero and Robert O Wright and Martha M Tellez-Rojo and Allison Kupsco},
journal = {Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1097/ee9.0000000000000535},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948535},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Prospective associations of childhood metal mixtures with metabolic health in a Mexico City cohort.
AU - Carolyn Gigot
AU - Pei Wen Tung
AU - Haotian Wu
AU - Guadalupe Estrada-Gutierrez
AU - Mari Cruz Tolentino
AU - Alejandra Cantoral
AU - Julio Landero
AU - Robert O Wright
AU - Martha M Tellez-Rojo
AU - Allison Kupsco
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.)
DO - 10.1097/ee9.0000000000000535
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948535
AB - Background Exposures to several metals and metalloids have been linked to impaired fasting glucose and insulin resistance that can progress to type 2 diabetes (T2D), which is increasing in prevalence among children and adolescents. However, the effects of metal mixtures on children's metabolic health are less well characterized. We examined prospective associations of metals, individually and jointly, with metabolic parameters among children without T2D.Methods We analyzed data from 422 children enrolled in the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stressors (PROGRESS) cohort (Mexico City, 2007-2011). Eleven metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cesium, lead, antimony, cobalt, copper, manganese, selenium, zinc) were measured in whole blood at the age 4-year visit. Fasting plasma glucose was measured at the 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year visits. Fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and β-cell function (HOMA-β) were determined at the 8- and 10-year visits. Associations were estimated using generalized additive mixed models, linear mixed models, and quantile g-computation.Results All metal-outcome associations were linear. Selenium was positively associated with average fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR; zinc was negatively associated with insulin and HOMA-IR. A quartile increase in the metal mixture was associated with 1.10-fold higher insulin (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01, 1.21) and 1.11-fold higher HOMA-IR (95% CI = 1.01, 1.22), with the largest contributions from selenium and arsenic.Conclusion Early childhood metals, particularly selenium, zinc, and arsenic, were prospectively associated with insulin resistance, consistent with findings in adults. More work is needed to understand how early-life metal mixture exposures may affect metabolic health.
SN - 2474-7882
ER -