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. 2012 Jul 31;120(11):1544–1550. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1104863

Table 2.

Percent change (95% CI) in hearing thresholds (dB) by blood cadmium and lead levels (n = 3,622).

Variables Participants (n) Model Aa Model Bb Model Cc
Cadmium
Per doubling of cadmium 4.38 (1.43, 7.41) 4.07 (1.09, 7.15) 4.13 (1.19, 7.15)
Cadmium quintile (µg/L)
Quintile 1 (0.10–0.20) 1,013 Reference Reference Reference
Quintile 2 (0.30–0.30) 553 –1.02 (–8.75, 7.35) –1.53 (–9.22, 6.81) –1.22 (–8.86, 7.07)
Quintile 3 (0.40–0.40) 581 2.21 (–5.10, 10.08) 1.26 (–5.95, 9.02) 1.68 (–5.60, 9.53)
Quintile 4 (0.50–0.70) 785 7.07 (–1.07, 15.87) 6.53 (–1.58, 15.32) 6.69 (–1.48, 15.53)
Quintile 5 (0.80–8.50) 690 14.49 (5.17, 24.64) 13.42 (4.18, 23.48) 13.78 (4.55, 23.82)
p-Trend 0.003 0.006 0.005
Lead
Per doubling of lead 6.24 (2.88, 9.71) 5.68 (2.35, 9.13) 5.41 (2.12, 8.81)
Lead quintile (µg/dL)
Quintile 1 (0.20–0.80) 629 Reference Reference Reference
Quintile 2 (0.90–1.30) 842 –0.04 (–9.50, 10.41) –0.06 (–9.51, 10.38) –0.50 (–9.94, 9.93)
Quintile 3 (1.40–1.80) 679 7.30 (–3.05, 18.76) 7.11 (–3.23, 18.54) 6.51 (–3.76, 17.89)
Quintile 4 (1.90–2.70) 734 11.86 (0.97, 23.92) 11.01 (0.26, 22.91) 10.22 (–0.40, 21.97)
Quintile 5 (2.80–54.00) 738 21.13 (9.43, 34.09) 19.44 (7.96, 32.14) 18.63 (7.35, 31.09)
p-Trend < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001
aModel A was adjusted for age, age2, sex, race/ethnicity, education, BMI, ototoxic medication, pack-years of cigarette smoke, hypertension, and diabetes. Cadmium models were further adjusted for lead; lead models were further adjusted for cadmium. bModel B adjusted for all variables included in Model A and further adjusted for occupational noise. cModel C adjusted for all variables in Model B and further adjusted for recreational noise and firearm noise.