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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2021 Jun 10;236:113782. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113782

Table 6.

Firefighter PBDE serum concentrationsA (ng/g lipid) by job assignment compared to the general population (GP).

Pre-fire Serum Concentration Post-fire Serum Concentration
Analyte Job assignment N (No. <
LODB)		 GM
(ng/g lipid) (GSD)		 P-value
(vs GP)		 N (No. <
LODB)		 GM
(ng/g lipid) (GSD)		 P-value
(vs GP)		 P-value
(Pre vs Post)
BDE-28 All firefighters 36 (4) 0.53 (2.25) 0.029D 36 (2) 0.54 (2.15) 0.027D 0.922
Exterior 12 (2) 0.43 (1.88) 0.016D 12 (0) 0.43 (1.81) 0.011D 0.498
Interior 12 (2) 0.47 (2.06) 0.065 12 (2) 0.47 (1.87) 0.039D 0.226
Overhaul 12 (0) 0.74 (2.69) 0.928 12 (0) 0.77 (2.59) 0.823 0.984
General PopulationC 1637 (178) 0.72 (1.78) Reference ** ** Reference
BDE-47 All firefighters 36 (0) 8.49 (2.59) 0.008D 36 (0) 8.37 (2.57) 0.006D 0.869
Exterior 12 (0) 5.94 (1.88) 0.001D 12 (0) 5.73 (1.86) <0.001D 0.172
Interior 12 (0) 7.58 (2.28) 0.038D 12 (0) 7.60 (2.23) 0.034D 0.447
Overhaul 12 (0) 13.59 (3.29) 0.955 12 (0) 13.47 (3.25) 0.974 0.921
General PopulationC 1637 (0) 13.32 (1.89) Reference ** ** Reference
BDE-99 All firefighters 36 (0) 1.58 (2.80) 0.007D 36 (0) 1.49 (2.76) 0.003D 0.816
Exterior 12 (0) 1.08 (2.01) 0.001D 12 (0) 0.95 (2.01) <0.001D 0.081
Interior 12 (0) 1.32 (2.62) 0.035D 12 (0) 1.31 (2.46) 0.024D 0.135
Overhaul 12 (0) 2.76 (3.30) 0.852 12 (0) 2.68 (3.23) 0.918 0.899
General PopulationC 1637 (0) 2.59 (2.12) Reference ** ** Reference
BDE-100 All firefighters 36 (1) 1.58 (2.52) <0.001D 36 (0) 1.67 (2.28) <0.001D 0.992
Exterior 12 (0) 1.24 (1.56) <0.001D 12 (0) 1.19 (1.52) <0.001D 0.091
Interior 12 (0) 1.60 (2.08) 0.017D 12 (0) 1.54 (2.10) 0.014D 0.204
Overhaul 12 (1) 1.99 (3.91) 0.361 12 (0) 2.52 (2.87) 0.657 0.949
General PopulationC 1637 (0) 2.90 (1.88) Reference ** ** Reference
BDE-153 All firefighters 36 (0) 5.66 (2.42) <.001D 36 (0) 5.53 (2.44) <0.001D 0.907
Exterior 12 (0) 4.61 (2.22) 0.008D 12 (0) 4.45 (2.23) 0.006D 0.347
Interior 12 (0) 4.37 (2.05) 0.003D 12 (0) 4.33 (2.09) 0.003D 0.962
Overhaul 12 (0) 9.00 (2.68) 0.769 12 (0) 8.80 (2.72) 0.715 0.790
General PopulationC 1637 (0) 9.81 (1.93) Reference ** ** Reference
BDE-209 All firefighters 36 (2) 2.91 (1.79) <0.001E 36 (0) 3.01 (1.57) <0.001E 0.687
Exterior 12 (1) 2.35 (1.71) 0.191 12 (0) 2.69 (1.56) 0.020E 0.359
Interior 12 (1) 2.75 (1.87) 0.062 12 (0) 2.86 (1.61) 0.012E 0.720
Overhaul 12 (0) 3.82 (1.66) <0.001E 12 (0) 3.53 (1.53) <0.001E 0.257
General PopulationC 1637 (27) 1.89 (1.64) Reference ** ** Reference
A.

PBDEs with less than 60% detection rate are summarized in Supplemental Materials (S4).

B.

LOD: limit of detection. Observations below the LOD were substituted using LOD/square root of 2.

C.

The data are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2020). 2015–2016 data documentation, codebook, and frequencies. Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) - Pooled Samples (BFRPOL_I). Available at https://wwwn.cdc.eov/Nchs/Nhanes/2015-2016/BFRPQL_I.htm.Accessed12November2020.

D.

Results were significantly lower than the general population.

E.

Results were significantly higher than the general population.

**

GM and GSD of general population were listed in the pre serum columns.