Exposure to volatile organic compounds and sarcopenia risk in US adults based on NHANES

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the association between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sarcopenia in a cohort of 3,391 U.S. participants aged 20–59 years, using NHANES data from 2011 to 2018. Various urinary metabolites of VOCs (mVOCs) were analyzed, and in multivariate logistic regression, CEMA (a metabolite of acrolein), CYMA (a metabolite of acrylonitrile), ATCA (a metabolite of cyanide), and 3,4-MHA (a metabolite of xylene) were found to have significant associations with sarcopenia. Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) and Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) analyses further supported these findings, identifying ATCA as a key contributor. Subgroup analyses revealed meaningful associations between sarcopenia and mVOCs in both men and women. Additionally, mediation analysis identified high-density lipoprotein (HDL) as a partial mediator, contributing to 3.8% of the effect. These results emphasize the need for future longitudinal studies to establish causality and further explore the underlying biological mechanisms.