All pollutant data posted by the NCHS before December 2008 were accessed and downloaded, which yielded 196 pollutants from 17 subclasses as categorized by the NCHS: serum perfluorinated compounds; urinary heavy metals; urinary total arsenic and speciated arsenics; urinary total (elemental plus inorganic) mercury; serum organochlorine pesticides; serum polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs); urinary polyaromatic hydrocarbons; urinary phthalates; serum polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); serum non–dioxin-like PCBs; urinary organophosphate insecticides; urinary perchlorate; urinary environmental phenols; urinary iodine; blood lead, mercury (total and inorganic), and cadmium; serum cotinine; and blood volatile organic compounds [for the full list of chemicals in each subclass, see Supplemental Material, Table 1 (doi:10.1289/ehp.1002720)]. An additional subclass, coplanar PCBs, was constructed by selecting only these chemicals from the broader “PCDDs, PCDFs, and coplanar PCBs” subclass. A second subclass for total PCBs was then created by combining the non–dioxin-like PCBs and coplanar PCBs subclasses.
All ALT and pollutant levels were measured in biologic samples collected on the same day from each individual participant. We evaluated only pollutants with a ≥ 60% detection rate [111 of 196 pollutants; see Supplemental Material, Table 1 (doi:10.1289/ehp.1002720)] to avoid bias in estimation for those pollutants with levels < the lower limit of detection (Lee et al. 2007a (link), 2007b (link)). Concentrations of organic pollutants measured in serum (non–dioxin-like PCBs; dioxins, furans, coplanar PCBs; PBDEs; organochlorine pesticides) were lipid adjusted, and concentrations of pollutants measured in urine were adjusted for creatinine [Supplemental Material, Table 1 (doi:10.1289/ehp.1002720)] (Schwartz et al. 2003 (link)).
All ALT and pollutant levels were measured in biologic samples collected on the same day from each individual participant. We evaluated only pollutants with a ≥ 60% detection rate [111 of 196 pollutants; see Supplemental Material, Table 1 (doi:10.1289/ehp.1002720)] to avoid bias in estimation for those pollutants with levels < the lower limit of detection (Lee et al. 2007a (link), 2007b (link)). Concentrations of organic pollutants measured in serum (non–dioxin-like PCBs; dioxins, furans, coplanar PCBs; PBDEs; organochlorine pesticides) were lipid adjusted, and concentrations of pollutants measured in urine were adjusted for creatinine [Supplemental Material, Table 1 (doi:10.1289/ehp.1002720)] (Schwartz et al. 2003 (link)).
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