Association between total cadmium intake calculated from the cadmium concentration in household rice and mortality among inhabitants of the cadmium-polluted Jinzu River basin of Japan

A follow-up survey was conducted to investigate the relationship between total Cd intake and mortality in the Jinzu River basin for 6128 days among 757 inhabitants who ingested household rice. When the subjects were divided into two groups, standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were 0.94 in men and 1.36 in women for theor = 2.0 g group and 0.68 in men and 0.29 in women for the2.0 g group (significant in the women). Cox's hazard ratios for men, women, and men+women for theor = 2.0 g group relative to those in the2.0 g group were 1.406, 3.955 and 1.950 (significant in the men+women). Using total Cd intake as a continuous variable, the hazard ratios were 1.045, 1.146 and 1.049 in men, women, and men+women (significant in the women), respectively. In the Jinzu River basin, increased total Cd intake appears to exert an adverse influence on life prognosis.