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Results on page last updated: 05/01/2024

Chemical Group: Metals

Measured in: Blood

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 1

Study Group: 100 Chinese adults living in the San Francisco Bay area
Sample Collection Date: 2016

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	96	3.58	3.01	4.26	2.47	4.12	7.13	9.24	100%	0.150

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 2

Study Group: 100 Vietnamese adults living in the San Francisco Bay area
Sample Collection Date: 2017

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	99	4.77	4.13	5.51	3.22	5.18	8.04	9.99	100%	0.0750

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 1.Pilot

Study Group: 112 adults
Sample Collection Date: 2011 - 2012

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	110	0.748	0.602	0.929	0.370	0.745	1.79	4.26	99.1%	0.04 µg/L

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 2.Expanded

Study Group: 341 adults
Sample Collection Date: 2013

Weighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	315	0.677	0.573	0.799	0.339	0.693	1.26	3.52	99.9%	0.0294 µg/L	□

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA)

Study Group: 430 adults (age 18 and up) living in Los Angeles County
Sample Collection Date: 2018

Weighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	425	0.975	0.794	1.20	0.387	1.04	2.56	6.02	92.9%	0.125 µg/L	▶

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 2 (CARE-2)

Study Group: 359 adults (age 18 and up) living in Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Mono, and Inyo counties
Sample Collection Date: 2019

Weighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	359	0.719	0.581	0.889	0.279	0.778	1.51	6.12	94.8%	0.0750 µg/L	◁

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 3 (CARE-3)

Study Group: 90 adults (age 18 and up) living in San Diego and Orange counties
Sample Collection Date: 2020

Study Group Subset: Adults

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L		1.03	0.809	1.30	0.500	1.16	2.34	4.04	98.7%	0.0750 µg/L	⌂

Project: Firefighter Occupational Exposures (FOX) Project

Study Group: 101 Firefighters
Sample Collection Date: 2010 - 2011

Study Group Subset: Firefighters

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of detection (LOD)
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of detection (LOD)
Mercury	Mercury	μg/L	101	2.79	2.36	3.30	1.82	2.90	5.48	9.79	100%	0.06

Project: Maternal and Infant Environmental Exposure Project (MIEEP)

Study Group: 92 pregnant women and their infants (65 mother-infant pairs and 27 pregnant women)
Sample Collection Date: 2010 - 2011

Study Group Subset: Pregnant women

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	μg/L	77	0.45	0.37	0.54	0.26	0.46	0.76	1.1	0.064

Chemical Group: Metals

Measured in: Urine

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 1

Study Group: 100 Chinese adults living in the San Francisco Bay area
Sample Collection Date: 2016

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	100	0.301	0.246	0.367	0.135	0.301	0.599	1.71	99%	0.0300

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 2

Study Group: 100 Vietnamese adults living in the San Francisco Bay area
Sample Collection Date: 2017

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	100	0.432	0.349	0.535	0.218	0.418	0.816	2.11	97%	0.0500

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 1.Pilot

Study Group: 112 adults
Sample Collection Date: 2011 - 2012

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	108	0.210	0.168	0.263	0.087	0.217	0.509	1.14	98.1%	0.0163 µg/L

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 2.Expanded

Study Group: 341 adults
Sample Collection Date: 2013

Weighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	218	0.148	0.114	0.194	0.0766	0.154	0.358	1.09	93.9%	0.0163 µg/L	●
Mercury	Mercury	µg/g creatinine	218	0.162	0.130	0.202	0.0756	0.182	0.314	0.811	93.9%	0.0163 µg/L	●

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA)

Study Group: 430 adults (age 18 and up) living in Los Angeles County
Sample Collection Date: 2018

Weighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	428	0.202	0.159	0.256	0.0814	0.232	0.519	2.63	97.1%	0.0100 µg/L	▼
Mercury	Mercury	µg/g creatinine	426	0.262	0.218	0.314	0.143	0.277	0.516	1.73	97.3%	0.0100 µg/L	▷

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 2 (CARE-2)

Study Group: 359 adults (age 18 and up) living in Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Mono, and Inyo counties
Sample Collection Date: 2019

Weighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	95th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L	357	0.165	0.138	0.197	0.0706	0.168	0.362	0.922	91.6%	0.0300 µg/L	▽
Mercury	Mercury	µg/g creatinine	357	0.216	0.184	0.254	0.104	0.213	0.402	1.34	91.6%	0.0300 µg/L	▽

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 3 (CARE-3)

Study Group: 90 adults (age 18 and up) living in San Diego and Orange counties
Sample Collection Date: 2020

Study Group Subset: Adults

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight	Notes
Mercury	Mercury	µg/L		0.156	0.121	0.201	0.0667	0.156	0.369	0.643	88.9%	0.0300 µg/L	⌂

Project: Firefighter Occupational Exposures (FOX) Project

Study Group: 101 Firefighters
Sample Collection Date: 2010 - 2011

Study Group Subset: Firefighters

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Detection Frequency	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	μg/L	101	0.455	0.382	0.542	0.221	0.447	0.914	1.28	100%	0.0522

Project: Maternal and Infant Environmental Exposure Project (MIEEP)

Study Group: 92 pregnant women and their infants (65 mother-infant pairs and 27 pregnant women)
Sample Collection Date: 2010 - 2011

Study Group Subset: Pregnant women

Unweighted Results

Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	95% Confidence Interval		Selected Percentiles				Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Chemical measured	Indicates Exposure to	Units	Number of people tested	Geometric mean	Lower	Upper	25th	50th	75th	90th	Limit of Detection (LOD), wet-weight
Mercury	Mercury	μg/L	89	0.212	0.164	0.274	0.0897	0.176	0.429	0.997	0.0522

Footnotes

⌂Due to the COVID-19 emergency, CARE-3 was stopped early and only 90 people completed all study steps. The results from this small non-representative sample cannot be generalized to the population of San Diego and Orange counties.

□Expanded BEST data from 315 participants was weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Central Valley. Unweighted results are available to download on the Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) – 2. Expanded project page.

▶CARE-LA data from 425 participants were weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Los Angeles County. Unweighted results are available to download on the California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA) project page.

▷CARE-LA data from 426 participants were weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Los Angeles County. Unweighted results are available to download on the California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA) project page.

▼CARE-LA data from 428 participants were weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Los Angeles County. Unweighted results are available to download on the California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA) project page.

▽CARE-2 data from 357 participants were weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Mono, and Inyo counties. Unweighted results are available to download on the California Regional Exposure Study, Region 2 (CARE-2) project page.

◁CARE-2 data from 359 participants were weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Mono, and Inyo counties. Unweighted results are available to download on the California Regional Exposure Study, Region 2 (CARE-2) project page.

●Expanded BEST data from 218 participants was weighted, a statistical method to adjust over-represented and under-represented samples, so that the summary results adequately reflect the population of California’s Central Valley. Unweighted results are available to download on the Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) – 2. Expanded project page.

Explanation of Terms

95% Confidence interval for the geometric mean

A 95% confidence interval for the geometric mean (CI-GM) is a range of values between two numbers called the lower bound and upper bound. These bounds are calculated based on sample data collected from a subset of a larger population. In repeated random sampling, the CI-GMs calculated for the various samples will contain the population value of the geometric mean 95 percent of the time. If convenience sampling is used to collect sample data, the CI-GM should be interpreted with caution. This is because a convenience sample may not be representative of the larger population.

95% Confidence interval for the geometric mean - lower

95% Confidence interval for the geometric mean - upper

Adjusted for

Chemical concentrations in urine can be adjusted for urine dilution using creatinine or specific-gravity. Chemical concentrations in serum can be adjusted for lipids. In the results tables, unadjusted chemical concentrations are denoted by NA.

Below the limit of detection (<LOD)

Below the limit of detection (< LOD) means that the laboratory could not detect the chemical. This may have been because the chemical was not present at all or because it was present at such a low level that the laboratory could not measure it.

Chemical measured

The chemical that was analyzed in blood or urine samples. The chemical measured is sometimes the parent chemical and sometimes a metabolite of the parent chemical.

Detection frequency (percent detected)

The percentage of study participants with a measurable level of a chemical in their blood or urine sample.

Geometric mean

The geometric mean is an estimated middle value of a set of numbers.This is different than the average, also called the "arithmetic mean". A geometric mean is sometimes calculated when the set of numbers contains some extreme values. For example, the geometric mean of the set of numbers "1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 10, 100" is calculated by multiplying all ten numbers together and then raising to the 1/10th power, giving 4.8. To compare, the arithmetic mean is calculated by adding all ten numbers and dividing by 10, giving 14.

In the data tables, an asterisk (*) means the geometric mean was not calculated because the chemical was found in less than 65% of the study group.

Indicates exposure to

The chemical(s) listed in this column is the chemical(s) to which a person may have been exposed through various sources (e.g., via drinking water or use of a consumer product). This chemical is commonly called the parent chemical.

Limit of detection (LOD), wet-weight

The limit of detection (LOD) is the lowest level of a chemical that the laboratory can measure in whole blood, urine or serum. The wet-weight LOD is presented as an amount of a chemical per liter of a sample (for example, microgram of a chemical per liter of urine, or µg/L). This is often the way that biomonitoring results are reported as well (for example, µg/L urine or µg/L serum). In some cases, however, biomonitoring results are presented as lipid-adjusted concentrations (µg/g lipid) or creatinine-adjusted concentrations (µg/g creatinine). For these cases, the units for the wet-weight LOD will differ from the units used to report the biomonitoring results.

Number of people tested

The number of individuals whose blood or urine samples were analyzed for a particular chemical.

Sample collection date

The time period during which blood or urine samples were collected from participants in Biomonitoring California projects or laboratory collaborations.

Selected percentiles

A range of values calculated to show the distribution of measured chemical levels. See specific percentiles below for examples.

Selected percentiles - 25th

If the 25th percentile is 0.3 µg/L, for example, this means that 25% of participants had levels less than or equal to 0.3 µg/L.

Selected percentiles - 50th

If the 50th percentile is 0.6 µg/L, for example, this means that 50% of participants had levels less than or equal to 0.6 µg/L.

Selected percentiles - 75th

If the 75th percentile is 1.2 µg/L, for example, this means that 75% of participants had levels less than or equal to 1.2 µg/L.

Selected percentiles - 90th

If the 90th percentile is 1.5 µg/L, for example, this means that 90% of participants had levels less than or equal to 1.5 µg/L.

Selected percentiles - 95th

If the 95th percentile is 1.9 µg/L, for example, this means that 95% of participants had levels less than or equal to 1.9 µg/L.

Study group

A brief description of the people who provided blood and/or urine samples for analysis in a particular study.

Units

Human biomonitoring data are commonly reported as an amount of a chemical present in a specified volume of a bodily fluid (such as blood or urine). For example, a chemical measurement expressed in units of µg/L urine tells us the number of micrograms (µg) of the chemical present per one liter (L) of urine. Using standard units allows for comparison across different studies. For more examples, see definition for: Units used by Biomonitoring California.

Unweighted Results

Unweighted results summarize the measurements collected from study participants but may not apply to a wider group of Californians.

Weighted Results

Weighted results are results that have been calculated using a statistical method that adjusts over-represented and under-represented samples. Weighted results adequately reflect a wider population in California.

Results for Chemical Groups

Chemical Group: Metals

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 1

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 2

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 1.Pilot

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 2.Expanded

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA)

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 2 (CARE-2)

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 3 (CARE-3)

Project: Firefighter Occupational Exposures (FOX) Project

Project: Maternal and Infant Environmental Exposure Project (MIEEP)

Chemical Group: Metals

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 1

Project: Asian/Pacific Islander Community Exposures (ACE) Project - ACE 2

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 1.Pilot

Project: Biomonitoring Exposures Study (BEST) - 2.Expanded

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Los Angeles County (CARE-LA)

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 2 (CARE-2)

Project: California Regional Exposure Study, Region 3 (CARE-3)

Project: Firefighter Occupational Exposures (FOX) Project

Project: Maternal and Infant Environmental Exposure Project (MIEEP)

Footnotes

Explanation of Terms

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