这项研究旨在确定健康相关矿物质在美国地理分布上的共同潜在模式，并评估这些模式对整体人口健康的现实累积影响。这是一项生态学研究，使用涵盖3080个毗连县的数据（即铝、砷、钙、铜、铁、铅、镁、锰、汞、磷、硒、钠、钛、锌的14种矿物质的浓度（即河流沉积物或表层土壤）以及整体健康状况（包括出生时寿命、年龄特定的死亡风险和原因特定的（由21个相互排斥的组总结）死亡率）。采用潜类分析（LCA）来识别与寿命有关的矿物质的共同聚类，基于其浓度特征。然后进行多元线性回归分析，以考察LCA派生的聚类与健康测量之间的关系，并进行潜在混杂因素的调整。砷、钙、硒、钠和锌这五种矿物质与寿命有关，并在LCA中进行了分析。在美国共确定了三个聚类，即“常见”（n = 2056, 66.8%）、“贫瘠”（n = 739, 24.0%）和“丰富”（n = 285, 9.3%）。拥有“贫瘠”特征的县的居民与寿命最短、各年龄段的死亡风险最高以及许多原因的死亡率最高有关，包括：心血管疾病、恶性肿瘤、神经系统疾病、慢性呼吸系统疾病、糖尿病、泌尿生殖器官、血液和内分泌疾病等五种主要死因。调整混杂因素后，结果仍具有统计学意义。我们的研究为解释美国的健康差异提供了新的环境地球化学视角。 ©2023. 作者（们）已独家授权Springer Nature B.V.

This study aimed to determine the common latent patterns of geographical distribution of health-related minerals across the USA and to evaluate the real-world cumulative effects of these patterns on overall population health. It was an ecological study using county-level data (3080 contiguous counties) on the concentrations of 14 minerals (i.e., aluminum, arsenic, calcium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, phosphorus, selenium, sodium, titanium, zinc) in stream sediments (or surface soils), and the measurements of overall health including life expectancy at birth, age-specific mortality risks and cause-specific (summarized by 21 mutually exclusive groups) mortality rates. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to identify the common clusters of life expectancy-related minerals based on their concentration characteristics. Multivariate linear regression analyses were then conducted to examine the relationship between the LCA-derived clusters and the health measurements, with adjustment for potential confounding factors. Five minerals (i.e., arsenic, calcium, selenium, sodium and zinc) were associated with life expectancy and were analyzed in LCA. Three clusters were determined across the USA, the 'common' (n = 2056, 66.8%), 'infertile' (n = 739, 24.0%) and 'plentiful' (n = 285, 9.3%) clusters. Residents in counties with the 'infertile' profile were associated with the shortest life expectancy, highest mortality risks at all ages, and highest mortality rates for many reasons including the top five leading causes of death: cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, neurological disorders, chronic respiratory conditions, and diabetes, urogenital, blood and endocrine diseases. Results remained statistically significant after confounding adjustment. Our study brings novel perspectives regarding environmental geochemistry to explain health disparities in the USA.© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.