Variable Effectiveness: Assessing Methods to Adjust for Covariates in Biomonitoring

This study provides us with good empirical data that in some situations, more complex methods to account for urine dilution may be necessary. As scientists, we need to be thoughtful of how and when to employ these new methods,” says Joe Braun, an epidemiologist at Brown University. Braun was not involved in the current study. The new methods may prove particularly useful in racially diverse study populations. Whites and Mexican Americans, on average, have lower levels of creatinine in their urine than black Americans.4 Low creatinine in urine also may be a predictor of cardiovascular risk.5 Braun says researchers looking to study the relationship between environmental exposures and cardiovascular risk, for instance, could benefit from the authors’ methods, which account for the complex relationship between chemical exposures, creatinine, race, and heart disease. References 1. Sexton K, et al. Human biomonitoring of environmental chemicals. American Scientist 92(1):38–45 (2004), doi: 10.1511/2004.1.38. 2. O’Brien KM, et al. Environmental chemicals in urine and blood: improving methods for creatinine and lipid adjustment. Environ Health Perspect 124(2):220–227 (2016), doi: 10.1289/ehp.1509693. 3. Schisterman EF, et al. Lipid adjustment in the analysis of environmental contaminants and human health risks. Environ Health Perspect 113(7):853–857 (2005), doi: 10.1289/ehp.7640. 4. Barr DB, et al. Urinary creatinine concentrations in the U.S. population: implications for...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Featured News Science Selection February 2016 Source Type: research