Regional Variation in Human Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants in the United States, NHANES
Table 4
Geometric mean and percentiles of selected serum PBDE concentrations (in ng/g of lipid or parts per billion on a lipid weight basis) for the US population by geographic area, NHANES 2003-2004.
Ages of 20 years and older
Geometric mean (95% CI)
Percentile (95% CI)
50th
90th
2,4,4′-Tribromodiphenyl ether (BDE 28)
Northeast
0.8 (0.6–0.9)
0.7 (0.6–0.8)
2.5 (1.4–7.7)
Midwest
1.1 (0.9–1.4)
1.0 (0.9–1.1)
3.5 (2.1–7.2)
South
1.1 (0.9–1.3)
1.1 (0.9–1.4)
4.7 (3.2–6.6)
West
2.1 (0.8–3.5)
2.1 (1.2–3.5)
8.3 (3.9–20)
2,2′,4,4′-Tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 47)
Northeast
12.5 (7.3–17.8)
11.5 (7.5–17.1)
51.5 (19.7–171)
Midwest
16.9 (12.9–20.8)
13.9 (11.0–21.7)
65.4 (47.5–83.3)
South
20.7 (17.0–24.4)
20.4 (16.0–25.4)
84.9 (63.3–121)
West
33.9 (17.6–60.2)
29.4 (14.1–79.5)
171 (70.0–589)
2,2′,4,4′,6-Pentabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 100)
Northeast
2.5 (1.4–3.5)
2.2 (1.2–4.1)
11.1 (4.3–21.2)
Midwest
3.3 (1.7–4.8)
2.6 (1.7–5.0)
16.6 (8.3–30.5)
South
4.1 (3.4–4.8)
3.9 (3.1–4.9)
17.9 (12.9–24.6)
West
6.0 (2.0–9.9)
5.3 (2.9–9.3)
34.5 (8.4–158)
2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-Hexabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 153)
Northeast
3.9 (2.2–5.6)
3.0 (1.9–5.1)
19.6 (9.4–60.5)
Midwest
4.6 (0.35–8.8)
3.8 (1.4–14.1)
24.3 (8.5–140)
South
6.1 (5.6–6.7)
4.9 (4.3–5.3)
34.3 (26.2–44.7)
West
7.2 (4.4–9.9)
6.1 (3.5–10.6)
62.9 (22.9–88.4)
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.
