Dioxins levels in human blood after implementation of measures against dioxin exposure in Japan

Table 3 Pearson’s correlation between log-transformed blood dioxins (in pg TEQ/g lipid) and health outcomes, SEDOCCH 2011–2016

Variables	Total TEQ with ‘zero’ substituted for dioxin congeners < LOD		Total TEQ with dioxins imputed using PMM		Total TEQ with dioxins imputed using MICE
Variables	r	p value	r	p value	r	p value
Age (years)	0.443	< 0.001	0.556	< 0.001	0.501	< 0.001
BMI (kg/m²)	0.194	< 0.001	0.150	< 0.001	0.160	< 0.001
Abdominal circumference (cm)	0.164	0.001	0.142	0.001	0.139	0.001
Number of cigarettes smoked per day*	0.017	0.701	0.064	0.157	0.044	0.330
HbA1c (NGSP value, %)*	0.136	0.006	0.198	< 0.001	0.192	< 0.001
Blood glucose (mg/dL)	0.232	< 0.001	0.272	< 0.001	0.264	< 0.001
Insulin (μU/mL)	− 0.009	0.827	− 0.040	0.373	− 0.031	0.482
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	0.202	< 0.001	0.198	< 0.001	0.188	< 0.001
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	− 0.080	0.074	− 0.088	0.051	− 0.082	0.067
Free T3 (pg/mL)	− 0.099	0.028	− 0.098	0.029	− 0.095	0.034
Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL)	0.093	0.038	0.114	0.011	0.112	0.013
Blood creatinine (mg/dL)^c	− 0.030	0.497	− 0.046	0.309	− 0.040	0.366
AST (IU/L)	0.169	< 0.001	0.155	< 0.001	0.166	< 0.001
ALT (IU/L)	0.128	0.004	0.100	0.025	0.111	0.013
GGT (IU/L)	0.151	< 0.001	0.117	< 0.009	0.123	0.006
DGLA (μg/mL)	− 0.131	0.003	− 0.132	0.003	− 0.145	0.001
AA (μg/mL)	− 0.024	0.584	− 0.033	0.456	− 0.038	0.398
EPA (μg/mL)	0.452	< 0.001	0.473	< 0.001	0.463	< 0.001
DHA (μg/mL)	0.440	< 0.001	0.441	< 0.001	0.435	< 0.001
Dietary dioxin intake (pg TEQ/kg/day)*	0.371	< 0.001	0.367	< 0.001	0.387	< 0.001

All variables were log-transformed, except age and the number of cigarettes smoked per day
SEDOCCH survey on the exposure to dioxins and other chemical compounds in humans, PCDDs polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins, PCDFs polychlorinated dibenzofurans, Co-PCBs coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls, TEQ toxicity equivalent, BMI body mass index, HbA1c haemoglobin A1c, NGSP National Glycohemoglobin Standardisation Programme, HDL high-density lipoprotein, T3 triiodothyronine, AST aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, GGT gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, DGLA dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid, AA arachidonic acid, EPA eicosapentaenoic acid, DHA docosahexaenoic acid, PMM predictive mean matching, MICE multiple chained equations
*N = 490, except for HbA1c (n = 404), number of cigarettes smoked per day (n = 485) and dietary dioxin intake (n = 90). Missing data of covariates were not imputed

ISSN: 1347-4715