Table 2. The distribution of metal concentrations in the blood of the 6–19-year-old children and adolescent participants in NHANES 2011–2012.
| Parameter | Male children |
Male adolescents |
||||||
| n | 431 | 493 | ||||||
| N(%)<LOD | Geometric | median | interquartile | N(%)<LOD | Geometric | median | interquartile | |
| Blood lead (μg/dL) | 7 (1.6%) | 0.76 | 0.72 | 0.52–1.02 | 11 (2.2%) | 0.68 | 0.66 | 0.47–0.96 |
| Blood cadmium (μg/L) | 311 (72.2%) | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.11–0.16 | 237 (48.1%) | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.11–0.23 |
| Blood mercury, total (μg/L) | 69 (16.0%) | 0.35 | 0.34 | 0.20–0.59 | 48 (9.7%) | 0.47 | 0.43 | 0.23–0.79 |
| Blood selenium (μg/L) | 0 (0.0%) | 174 | 175 | 163–188 | 0 (0.0%) | 187 | 187 | 174–202 |
| Blood manganese (μg/L) | 0 (0.0%) | 9.79 | 9.72 | 7.86–11.84 | 0 (0.0%) | 9.43 | 9.33 | 7.62–11.54 |
| Parameter | Female children |
Female adolescents |
||||||
| n | 426 | 470 | ||||||
| N(%)<LOD | Geometric | median | interquartile | N(%)<LOD | Geometric | median | interquartile | |
| Blood lead (μg/L) | 6 (1.4%) | 0.68 | 0.65 | 0.48–0.93 | 27 (5.8%) | 0.47 | 0.47 | 0.35–0.63 |
| Blood cadmium (μg/L) | 277 (65.0%) | 0.14 | 0.11 | 0.11–0.18 | 194 (41.3%) | 0.19 | 0.18 | 0.11–0.27 |
| Blood mercury, total (μg/L) | 61 (14.3%) | 0.39 | 0.36 | 0.22–0.66 | 40 (8.5%) | 0.50 | 0.49 | 0.26–0.83 |
| Blood selenium (μg/L) | 0 (0.0%) | 177 | 177 | 165–189 | 0 (0.0%) | 184 | 183 | 169–200 |
| Blood manganese (μg/L) | 0 (0.0%) | 10.55 | 10.52 | 8.72–12.90 | 0 (0.0%) | 10.75 | 10.84 | 8.64–13.26 |
Abbreviations: LOD, limit of detection