VCAM1 and endothelial dysfunction: Bielinski et al. (2008, 2011) reported that, in Chinese and African Americans, individuals carrying the rs281432 GG genotype had higher circulating levels of sICAM-1 compared with those with the CC genotype. (Bielinski et al. 2008, 2011). It is thus plausible that individuals carrying the GG genotype of rs281432, who were genetically predisposed to endothelial dysfunction in response to inflammatory stimuli, were more affected by the cardiovascular effects of As exposure. VCAM1 rs3176867 lies in the intron 4 and was not in LD with other SNPs in the gene (see Supplemental Material, Figure S3).