Table 2.
Mean, median and range of exposure concentrations of six PCB congeners, HCB, DDT, DDE and BDE-47
| Exposure | LOQ | Cases (n = 270) | % Controls (n = 270)a | Difference p-valueb | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % < LOQ | Median | Mean | Range | % < LOQ | Median | Mean | Range | |||
| PCB118 | 5 pg/ml | 0.0% | 134.7 | 182 | (8.5, 901.6) | 0.0% | 147.7 | 175.7 | (11.6, 832.1) | 0.991 |
| PCB138 | 5 pg/ml | 0.0% | 530.0 | 605.6 | (11.0, 1810.1) | 0.0% | 562.3 | 636.4 | (51.2, 2675.4) | 0.276 |
| PCB153 | 4 pg/ml | 0.0% | 1007.8 | 1150.9 | (32.5, 3308.0) | 0.0% | 1086 | 1205.5 | (120.6, 4334.1) | 0.239 |
| PCB156 | 2 pg/ml | 0.0% | 90.6 | 102 | (19.8, 307.8) | 0.0% | 95.6 | 106.7 | (15.5, 394.9) | 0.186 |
| PCB170 | 4 pg/ml | 0.0% | 326.4 | 375.2 | (62.7, 1082.3) | 0.0% | 357.6 | 389.4 | (50.4, 1291.2) | 0.284 |
| PCB180 | 3 pg/ml | 0.0% | 696.6 | 788.8 | (139.7, 2708.8) | 0.0% | 727.8 | 807.9 | (100.1, 2431.5) | 0.284 |
| HCB | 25 pg/ml | 0.0% | 257.8 | 398.1 | (62.5, 3604.0) | 0.0% | 289.2 | 432.5 | (64.5, 3882.2) | 0.198 |
| DDT | 200 pg/ml | 85.9% | 261.8 | 331.7 | (206.6, 825.8) | 86.7% | 298.2 | 399.8 | (218.8, 1636.9) | 0.865 |
| DDE | 5 pg/ml | 0.0% | 2478.7 | 4038.4 | (16.4, 30992.8) | 0.0% | 2675.3 | 4200.1 | (76.4, 23858.3) | 0.374 |
| BDE-47 | 15 pg/ml | 84.1% | 23.5 | 34.2 | (15.1, 133.4) | 81.1% | 25.8 | 95.1 | (15.3, 2063.3) | 0.657 |
LOQ limit of quantification
aPCB analyses were based on 269 controls as one participant with exposure levels above the 99th percentile was excluded
bDifferences between median concentrations in cases and controls according to the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples