Recent research has unveiled that marijuana users exhibit elevated levels of lead and cadmium of their blood and urine, prompting concerns regarding the potential risks related to exposure to those potentially harmful metals.

Research conducted on the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health is one in every of the earliest ones to document the presence of metal biomarkers in individuals who use marijuana and is probably going essentially the most extensive research conducted up to now that connects self-reported marijuana consumption with actual measurements of metal exposure inside the body, News Medical reported.

The study’s findings show a notable contrast in metal levels between marijuana users and non-users. “In comparison with non-users, marijuana users had 27% higher levels of lead of their blood, and 21% higher levels of their urine,” study lead creator Tiffany Sanchez, who’s a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in Latest York City, told CNN.

Cadmium levels were notably higher within the blood of marijuana users, about 22% higher than those that keep away from it, Sanchez said. The marijuana users were reported to have 18% higher levels of cadmium of their urine than the abstainers.

“Each cadmium and lead stay in your body for quite an extended time,” Sanchez said. “Cadmium is absorbed within the renal system and is filtered out to through the kidney. So, once you’re taking a look at urinary cadmium, that is a mirrored image of total body burden, how much you’ve gotten taken in over an extended period of chronic exposure.”

The study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning 2005-2018, specializing in 7,254 participants. They categorized users into groups resembling non-marijuana/non-tobacco, exclusive marijuana, exclusive tobacco and dual users. Blood and urine samples were then tested for metals. Furthermore, the researchers defined marijuana and tobacco use using variables like current smoking, serum cotinine levels, self-reported marijuana use and up to date use.

Exclusive tobacco use means someone only used tobacco and didn’t smoke the rest. To examine if someone was an exclusive tobacco user, they asked participants in the event that they smoked cigarettes or measured a substance called cotinine of their body. If the cotinine level was higher than 10, it meant they were using tobacco.

Cadmium is tied to kidney disease and lung cancer in people and fetal abnormalities in animals, in line with the EPA, which has set specific limits for cadmium. As for lead, it may well accumulate over time, resulting in irreversible damage to brain development, kidneys and the nervous system, as per Mayo Clinic.

“Going forward, research on cannabis use and cannabis contaminants, particularly metals, ought to be conducted to deal with public health concerns related to the growing variety of cannabis users,” Sanchez told News-Medical.

Published by Medicaldaily.com