. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jul 26.

Published in final edited form as: J Occup Environ Hyg. 2010 Dec;7(12):726–734. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2010.530906

TABLE V.

Predictors of Breathing Zone Mouse Allergen Concentrations Among Mouse Handlers

Predictors of Exposure		Avg. Mus m 1 (ng/m³) Median (IQR)^A	p-value	Peak Mus m 1 (ng/m³) Median (IQR)^A	p-value
Mouse handler	Yes (n = 97)	4.14 (0.70–12.12)	<0.001	6.70(1.27–18.45)	<0.001
	No (n = 71)	0.21 (BD^B –0.63)		0.31 (BD^B –1.17)
Primary task	Animal care (n = 42)	8.73 (3.56–18.68)	<0.001	11.44 (4.67–24.08)	<0.001
	Husbandry (n = 26)	5.83 (3.26–14.95)		7.82 (3.46–18.75)
	Laboratory exp. (n = 25)	0.36 (0.07–1.77)		0.61 (0.14–1.81)
Type of mice	Live, conscious (n = 92)	4. 46 (0.74–13.53)		6.79 (1.29–18.60)	0.89
	Dead mice (n = 3)
		4.11 (BD^B –379.86)	0.99	8.08 (BD^B –682.50)
Frequency of mouse handling	<1 day/week (n = 4)	0.20 (BD^B –2.26)	<0.001	0.31 (BD^B –4.34)	<0.001
	1–2 days/week (n = 13)	0.38 (0.06–1.93)		0.65 (0.13–3.43)
	3–4 days/week (n = 16)	0.84 (0.18–2.41)		1.07 (0.27–2.80)
	5+ days/week (n = 63)	7.73 (3.49–18.54)		11.32 (4.57–23.44)

Note: Peak concentration was defined as the highest concentration of Day 1 and Day 2 measurements.

Interquartile range.

BD, below detection. The limit of detection for the breathing zone Mus m 1 concentration ranged from 0.05–0.18 ng/m³.