Patterns of fish and whale consumption in relation to methylmercury in hair among residents of Western Canadian Arctic communities

Table 4 Sensitivity Analysis: Multivariable regression of hair MeHg concentrations (μg/g) on fish/whale intake, comparing models using measured MeHg values to models using values adjusted for variability in MeHg measurements observed in subsets of the study population, 101 western Canadian Arctic residents, 2016

Fish/Whale Intake (meals/week)	Original MeHg Measurement		Adjusted MeHg Measurement 1 ^a		Adjusted MeHg Measurement 2^b
Fish/Whale Intake (meals/week)	β	95% CI	β	95% CI	β	95% CI
< 1	Ref		Ref		Ref
1–2	0.142	−0.106, 0.391	0.172	−0.129, 0.473	0.112	−0.084, 0.309
3–4	0.542	0.235, 0.849	0.656	0.284, 1.028	0.428	0.185, 0.671
≥ 5	0.419	0.152, 0.689	0.507	0.184, 0.831	0.331	0.120, 0.543

^a MeHg concentrations adjusted by the mean percent change of 15.8% estimated among 27 individuals with repeat measurements (excluding 1 outlier). MeHg concentration was increased by 15.8% for a random selection of 36% of participants and decreased by 15.8% for the remaining 64%, based on the distribution of increased or decreased values in the validation subset
^bMeHg concentrations adjusted according to reported use of permanent hair treatments: Among participants who used hair treatments, 50% were increased by the 38.5% mean percent change observed among 6 participants in the validation subset with reported use of permanent hair treatments; among those who did not use permanent hair treatments, 32% were increased by the 16.2% mean percent change observed among 22 participants in the validation subset who did not use permanent hair treatments

ISSN: 1471-2458