TABLE 3.

COMPARISON OF RECONSTRUCTED EXPOSURE CHARACTERISTICS AMONG SUBJECTS WITH CHRONIC BERYLLIUM DISEASE, SUBJECTS WITH BERYLLIUM SENSITIZATION, AND CONTROL SUBJECTS

					P Value
	Total(n = 386)	Control Subjects(n = 255)	BeS(n = 70)	CBD(n = 61)	BeS versus Control Subjects	CBD versus Control Subjects	BeS versus CBD
Cumulative Be exposure, μg/m3-years: median (mean)*	0.35 (3.68)	0.39 (2.43)	0.11 (2.96)	1.46 (9.71)	0.031	0.011	0.001
Lifetime weighted average Be exposure, μg/m3: median (mean)*	0.03 (0.24)	0.03 (0.15)	0.01 (0.25)	0.07 (0.64)	0.073	0.008	0.001
Lifetime weighted average exposure quartiles, n (%)†
≤0.001 μg/m3	91 (23.6%)	57 (22.3%)	24 (34.3%)	10 (16.4%)	0.040	0.306	0.020
>0.001 to ≤0.03 μg/m3	109 (28.2%)	74 (29.0%)	21 (30.0%)	14 (22.9%)	0.873	0.342	0.363
>0.03 to ≤0.17 μg/m3	89 (23.1%)	67 (26.3%)	10 (14.3%)	12 (19.7%)	0.037	0.285	0.411
>0.17 μg/m3	97 (25.1%)	57 (22.3%)	15 (24.4%)	25 (41.0%)	0.869	0.003‡	0.015‡
Maximum task-based exposure, n (%)†
<0.02 μg/m3	82 (21.2%)	49 (19.2%)	25 (35.7%)	8 (13.1%)	0.003‡	0.266	0.003‡
≥0.02 and <0.05 μg/m3	30 (7.8%)	17 (6.7%)	7 (10.0%)	6 (9.8%)	0.345	0.411	0.975
≥0.05 and <0.10 μg/m3	7 (1.8%)	5 (2.0%)	2 (2.86%)	0 (0%)	0.646	0.587	0.498
≥0.10 and <0.20 μg/m3	27 (7.0%)	18 (7.1%)	6 (8.6%)	3 (4.9%)	0.668	0.776	0.502
≥0.20 and <0.50 μg/m3	24 (6.2%)	16 (6.3%)	4 (5.7%)	4 (6.6%)	1.0	1.0	1.0
≥0.50 and <1.0 μg/m3	29 (7.5%)	24 (9.4%)	2 (2.9%)	3 (4.9%)	0.073	0.259	0.663
≥1.0 and <2.0 μg/m3	100 (25.9%)	75 (29.4%)	8 (11.4%)	17 (27.9%)	0.002‡	0.812	0.017
≥2.0 μg/m3	87 (22.5%)	51 (20.0%)	16 (22.9%)	20 (32.8%)	0.601	0.032	0.204

Definition of abbreviations: BeS = beryllium sensitization; CBD = chronic beryllium disease.

^*Compared using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by pair-wise Mann-Whitney test when significant.

^†Compared by chi-square or Fisher's exact method; unadjusted P values reported.

^‡Significant after Bonferroni correction (n = 3), α = 0.017.