Table 2. Distribution of heavy metals and comparison of heavy metal concentrations between the 3 areas.
| Sample type | Metals | Area (soum) | GM (95% CI) | p-valuea | Post-hocb grouping |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood | Cd (µg/L) | Bayandalai | 0.16 (0.13–0.20) | 0.545 | |
| Tsogttsetsii | 0.15 (0.14–0.16) | ||||
| Khanbogd | 0.16 (0.15–0.17) | ||||
| Pb (µg/dL) | Bayandalai | 7.42 (6.45–8.54) | < 0.001 | A > B, C | |
| Tsogttsetsii | 4.78 (4.36–5.23) | ||||
| Khanbogd | 5.15 (4.65–5.71) | ||||
| Hg (µg/L) | Bayandalai | 0.38 (0.34–0.42) | 0.002 | A > B, C | |
| Tsogttsetsii | 0.29 (0.27–0.32) | ||||
| Khanbogd | 0.29 (0.26–0.32) | ||||
| Hair | Hg (µg/g) | Bayandalai | 0.78 (0.66–0.93) | < 0.001 | A, B > C |
| Tsogttsetsii | 0.66 (0.58–0.75) | ||||
| Khanbogd | 0.50 (0.44–0.57) | ||||
| Urine | As (µg/L) | Bayandalai | 26.11 (17.99–37.89) | 0.331 | |
| Tsogttsetsii | 23.89 (18.53–30.79) | ||||
| Khanbogd | 36.93 (30.75–44.36) |
Post-hoc grouping is presented as follow: A, Bayandalai; B, Tsogttsetsii; C, Khanbogd.
GM: geometric means; CI: confidence interval.
aThe p-value calculated by 1-way analysis of variance for GM value differences between area; bBonferroni post-hoc.