High manganese exposure decreased the risk of high triglycerides in male workers: a cross-sectional study

Manganese (Mn) is to be involved in lipids metabolism. However, few epidemiological studies have investigated the association between elevated exposure to Mn and the risk of dyslipidemia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on follow-up of the manganese-exposed workers healthy cohort (MEWHC) in 2017. A total of 803 Mn-exposed workers were divided into the low-exposure, and high-exposure group according to Mn-Time Weighted Average (Mn-TWA) ≤0.15mg/m3 or >0.15mg/m3. And we evaluated the associations between Mn-TWA levels and dyslipidemia, and assessed the interaction between Mn-TWA levels and each of the potential interacting factors. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, we observed mainly significant negative association between high triglycerides (TG) risk and Mn-TWA levels in male (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.94; p <0.01). In interaction analyses of male, we did not observe a significant interaction between Mn-TWA levels and pack-years on high TG risk (relative excess risk for the interaction (RERI) = -1.30, 95% CI: -3.29, 0.70, RERI = -1.62, 95% CI: -3.92, 0.67). Similarly, analysis of smoking status, drinking status, high-fat diets frequency, and BMI were nonsignificant interaction with Mn-TWA levels on high TG risk as well. Conclusions: Our study indicated that high Mn exposure was significantly associated with low risk of hyper TG in male workers. Keywords: Manganese; Occupation; Dyslipidemia; Triglycerides