title: A method to screen U.S. environmental biomonitoring data for race/ethnicity and income-related disparity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Environmental biomonitoring data provide one way to examine race/ethnicity and income-related exposure disparity and identify potential environmental justice concerns.
  
  
  METHODS
  We screened U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2008 biomonitoring data for 228 chemicals for race/ethnicity and income-related disparity. We defined six subgroups by race/ethnicity-Mexican American, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white-and income-Low Income: poverty income ratio (PIR) <2, High Income: PIR ≥ 2. We assessed disparity by comparing the central tendency (geometric mean [GM]) of the biomonitoring concentrations of each subgroup to that of the reference subgroup (non-Hispanic white/High Income), adjusting for multiple comparisons using the Holm-Bonferroni procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were sufficient data to estimate at least one geometric mean ratio (GMR) for 108 chemicals; 37 had at least one GMR statistically different from one. There was evidence of potential environmental justice concern (GMR significantly >1) for 12 chemicals: cotinine; antimony; lead; thallium; 2,4- and 2,5-dichlorophenol; p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; methyl and propyl paraben; and mono-ethyl, mono-isobutyl, and mono-n-butyl phthalate. There was also evidence of GMR significantly <1 for 25 chemicals (of which 17 were polychlorinated biphenyls).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although many of our results were consistent with the U.S. literature, findings relevant to environmental justice were novel for dichlorophenols and some metals.
authors.affiliation: Abt Associates, 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 800 North, 20814 Bethesda, MD, USA. Anna_Belova@abtassoc.com.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belova
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Riederer
authors.forename: Lauren E W
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Olsho
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Corrales
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011203:Poverty; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants