Broken hearts: Uranium’s cardiovascular impact

Uranium is commonly found in drinking water throughout the United States. It is a special concern in communities in the United States Southwest where uranium mining for weapons and power has left a legacy of contamination, exposure, and disease, particularly among Native American and Hispanic communities.

A just released, open access study “Relationship Between Urinary Uranium and Cardiac Geometry and Left Ventricular Function: The Strong Heart Study” evaluated the relationship between the amount of uranium in the human body, measured in urine, and negative impacts on the cardiovascular system. “Urinary uranium levels were adversely associated” with “cardiac geometry and function” among American Indian young adults, indicating the “need to determine the potential long-term subclinical and clinical cardiovascular effects of chronic uranium exposure, and the need for future strategies to reduce exposure”.

Uranium is both a heavy metal and radioactive. Radioactivity is associated with negative cardiovascular impacts at all levels of exposure, and more in women than men.

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