Physical activity attenuates the association between blood cadmium exposure and cardiovascular disease: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2018

Existing studies could not separate the effects of heavy metal exposure on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk from those caused by physical activity (PA). The possible interactive effect of heavy metal exposure and PA on the risk of CVD remains still unknown. We enrolled a total of 12,280 participants in 2007–2018 cycles of the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and discovered that both low blood concentrations of Cd and Pb were positively correlated with increased prevalence of CVD and subtypes, with a stronger association for blood Cd than Pb. Negative dose–response relationships between PA and the prevalence of CVD and subtypes were identified. Participants with inactive and active PA had lower risk of CVD than those having no PA, with multivariate adjusted ORs 0.8 (95% CI: 0.69, 0.94) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.85), respectively. The only evidence for negative interaction between regular PA and blood Cd concentrations was found with regard to the prevalence of CVD and subtypes, indicating that regular PA could well modify the adverse effect of blood Cd on CVD risk. We demonstrate for the first time to date that PA may have a beneficial effect against the hazardous impact of Cd exposure on elevated CVD risk, emphasizing the necessity to promote a healthy lifestyle with active PA.