Relationship between RBC Mercury Levels and Serum n3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Concentrations among Japanese Men and Women

Table 3

Total mercury concentration (ng/g) in red blood cells by EPA and HDL-EPA levels.

	Men			Women
	RBC Hg levels			RBC Hg levels
	𝑁	Mean^*1 (ng/g)	95% CI	𝑁	Mean^*1 (ng/g)	95% CI
EPA levels in sera (mg/L)
<40	26	39.0	28.3–53.8	36	21.2	16.6–27.0
40–	27	33.1	24.6–44.6	55	24.7	20.2–30.4
60–	11	54.7	38.9–76.9	46	27.2	22.1–33.4
80+	33	44.9	34.5–58.4	32	33.1	25.7–42.5
		𝑃 for trend^*2 = 0.149			𝑃 for trend^*2 = 0.005
EPA levels in HDL fraction of sera (mg/L)
<15	23	43.8	31.6–60.7	32	21.6	17.0–27.4
15–	26	39.8	29.8–53.2	78	24.2	20.3–28.8
25–	12	45.7	31.1–67.2	30	31.8	24.6–41.0
35+	34	46.1	35.4–60.2	30	35.1	27.2–45.4
		𝑃 for trend^*2 = 0.568			𝑃 for trend^*2 = 0.001

^*1: Geometric mean.
^*2: When calculating 𝑃 values, age was always included in the models as a covariate. The continuous 𝑃 for trend was calculated by treating the EPA level as a continuous variable.