Insufficient or an abundance of trace elements are a contributing factor in cardiovascular diseases. People living in different geochemical environments may have an enhanced or depressed intake of certain elements reflecting the chemical composition of the environment. These imbalances may also be the result of diets. Populations that are highly prone to atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction show significantly lower tissue chromium concentrations than less coronary-prone populations. This may be due to higher consumption of refined sugars and other refined products. The unrefined products have chromium the refined products lack. Geographical differences in hypertension have been found to be positively correlated with variations in the concentration of cadmium in the kidney.
It has been found out that biochemical differences, abnormal levels of at least one trace element, exist between violent and non-violent criminals and that these differences may cause violent behaviour.