Figure 1.

Adjusted ^a odds ratios (ORs) and 95% Wald confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between elevated joint neurodevelopmental toxicant (NDT) exposure ^b and race/ethnicity stratified by allostatic load^c among nonpregnant, reproductive-aged (15−44 years) women from NHANES 2003−2004.

Notes: ^a Adjusted for age, country of birth, head of household highest education, smoking status, and iron status. ^b Elevated NDT exposure was defined as having a hazard index (HI) for joint lead (Pb) and methyl mercury (MeHg) greater than one (HI_NDT > 1). The HI was calculated by summing individual hazard quotients (HQs) for Pb and MeHg (Equation 1). HQs were calculated by dividing blood concentrations of Pb and MeHg by 1.76 µg/dL and 5.8 µg/L, respectively. ^c Allostatic load (AL), a measure of physiological dysregulation, was used as an indicator of chronic stress exposure and was estimated based on the categorical classification of AL scores and calculated by summing the number of 10 biomarkers above clinical (AL-clinical) or empirical (AL-empirical) high risk criteria (Equation 2). Squares indicate adjusted ORs for AL-clinical. Circles indicate adjusted ORs for AL-empirical. Regardless of AL method: blue indicates low AL (low chronic stress exposure), red indicates intermediate AL (intermediate chronic stress exposure), and green indicates high AL (high chronic stress exposure).