Table 1.
Demographic and lifestyle characteristics of the Michigan PBB Registry participants with PBB, PCB, and PBDE measurements, 2012-2015 (N=862).
| Characteristics | PBBs (N=861)a |
PCBs (N=832) |
PBDEs (N=358) |
|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | |||
| Sex | |||
| Female | 478 (55) | 464 (56) | 200 (56) |
| Male | 383 (44) | 368 (44) | 158 (44) |
| Sampling age (year) | |||
| 7-20 | 37 (4.3) | 35 (4.2) | 13 (3.7) |
| 20-29 | 90 (10) | 89 (11) | 37 (10) |
| 30-39 | 114 (13) | 110 (13) | 61 (17) |
| 40-49 | 162 (19) | 155 (19) | 77 (22) |
| 50-59 | 197 (23) | 186 (22) | 97 (27) |
| 60-88 | 258 (30) | 254 (31) | 70 (20) |
| Exposure groups | |||
| Chemical workers | 69 (8.3) | 69 (8.6) | 0 (0) |
| Family members of chemical workers | 95 (11) | 95 (12) | 1 (0) |
| Farm/food family | 237 (29) | 221 (27) | 209 (63) |
| Other residents | 183 (22) | 183 (23) | 9 (2.7) |
| Born after incident began | 245 (30) | 238 (30) | 112 (34) |
| Race/Ethnicities | |||
| Non-Hispanic white | 668 (94) | 648 (94) | 228 (98) |
| Other | 39 (5.5) | 38 (5.5) | 4 (1.7) |
| Smoking status | |||
| Non-smoker | 399 (57) | 386 (57) | 151 (66) |
| Past smoker | 183 (26) | 179 (27) | 45 (20) |
| Current smoker | 115 (16) | 110 (16) | 34 (15) |
| BMI (kg/m2)b | |||
| <18.5 | 3 (0.7) | 3 (0.7) | 2 (1.0) |
| 18.5-24.9 | 124 (28) | 125 (29) | 53 (27) |
| 25.0-29.9 | 142 (31) | 135 (31) | 65 (33) |
| ≥30 | 181 (40) | 169 (39) | 80 (40) |
| Where were you living between 1973 and 1974? | |||
| Not on a farm | 269 (44) | 265 (44) | 30 (19) |
| Quarantined farmc | 72 (12) | 69 (11) | 39 (25) |
| Non-quarantined farm | 88 (14) | 85 (14) | 23 (15) |
| I am not sure | 24 (3.9) | 24 (4.0) | 5 (3.2) |
| Born in 1975 or after | 161 (26) | 160 (27) | 61 (39) |
| Do you know if you ate any foods contaminated with PBB (such as milk, eggs, other dairy products, or meat)? | |||
| Definitely not | 33 (5.4) | 33 (5.5) | 13 (8.4) |
| Definitely | 129 (21) | 124 (21) | 62 (40) |
| Probably | 114 (19) | 113 (19) | 18 (12) |
| I don't know | 334 (55) | 330 (55) | 61 (40) |
| Parity (after incident began) | |||
| 0 | 67 (29) | 65 (29) | 31 (33) |
| 1 | 34 (15) | 34 (15) | 13 (14) |
| 2-6 | 129 (45) | 126 (56) | 49 (53) |
| Breastfeeding (after incident began) | |||
| No | 111 (48) | 109 (48) | 43 (46) |
| Yes | 119 (52) | 116 (52) | 50 (54) |
Abbreviation: N, sample number; %, the percentage of a sample number in the group in relation to the non-missing number.
a
The numbers of available serum measurements are different for each chemical. The total study population is 862 with one participant having PBDE but not PBB or PCB measurements.
b
BMI is only available for adults (age ≥ 18).
c
Farms quarantined because of PBB contamination.