Regional Variation in Human Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants in the United States, NHANES
Table 1
Geometric mean, 50th and 90th percentiles of selected non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentrations (in ng/g of lipid or parts per billion on a lipid weight) by US Census region, NHANES 2003-2004.
Ages of 20 years and older
Geometric mean (95% CI)
Percentile (95% CI)
50th
90th
2,4,4′-Trichlorobiphenyl (PCB 28)
Northeast
4.1 (3.4–4.9)
4.1 (3.5–4.7)
7.9 (5.0–13.3)
Midwest
5.1 (3.6–6.6)
5.3 (3.7–7.3)
9.0 (7.4–11.3)
South
4.8 (4.1–5.5)
4.7 (3.9–5.8)
9.9 (8.4–11.2)
West
5.4 (4.5–6.3)
5.3 (4.5–6.2)
9.5 (7.4–13.6)
2,2′,5,5′-Tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 52)
Northeast
2.3 (1.3–3.3)
2.2 (1.3–3.7)
5.4 (2.3–12.6)
Midwest
2.4 (1.9–2.8)
2.5 (1.9–3.0)
4.9 (3.1–8.9)
South
2.5 (2.0–2.9)
2.6 (2.0–3.2)
6.2 (4.5–7.8)
West
3.5 (3.1–3.9)
3.6 (2.9–4.3)
6.3 (5.2–7.3)
2,4,4′,5-Tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 74)
Northeast
6.6 (4.9–8.3)
5.9 (3.7–9.2)
24.0 (11.8–45.0)
Midwest
5.3 (4.1–6.4)
4.4 (2.9–9.4)
16.0 (9.4–33.9)
South
5.5 (4.6–6.4)
5.8 (3.6–7.9)
17.9 (12.4–22.3)
West
4.5 (3.1–5.9)
4.4 (2.6–7.3)
12.4 (11.5–14.7)
2,2′,4,4′,5-Pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 99)
Northeast
6.3 (4.4–8.3)
5.7 (3.2–14.1)
21.1 (8.7–51.2)
Midwest
4.2 (2.7–5.8)
3.8 (2.8–5.4)
12.6 (4.4–79.5)
South
4.6 (3.7–5.5)
4.2 (3.4–5.2)
15.7 (8.8–19.0)
West
3.7 (3.0–4.3)
3.5 (2.9–4.1)
8.7 (6.9–11.5)
2,2′,4,5,5′-Pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 101)
Northeast
1.5 (0.84–2.2)
1.5 (0.90–2.4)
5.1 (2.4–10.8)
Midwest
1.4 (1.1–1.8)
1.4 (0.94–2.3)
3.6 (2.5–5.5)
South
1.6 (1.2–1.9)
1.6 (1.4–1.8)
4.5 (3.2–6.8)
West
2.1 (1.8–2.4)
2.1 (1.7–2.6)
4.2 (3.3–5.4)
2,2′,3,3′,4,4′,5,6′-Octachlorobiphenyl and 2,2′,3,4,4′,5,5′,6-octachlorobiphenyl (PCBs 196 and 203)
Regional means with the same letter superscript are not significantly different from each other based on analysis of covariance adjusting for age, smoking status, gender, and race/ethnicity.
