Residents living in communities near Superfund sites have expressed concern that releases from these facilities affect their health, including adverse effects on their immune systems. IgA test results above the reference range than comparison areas residents regardless of modeling strategy employed. The effect measures were larger for residents who lived in communities near military bases with groundwater contamination. For all those analyses the wide confidence intervals reflect uncertainty in the magnitude of these effects. To properly address the question of whether the immune system is usually affected by low-level exposures to hazardous substances, we recommend that more functional immunotoxicity assessments be conducted in human populations where individual exposure information is available or when it can be reasonably estimated from environmental exposure measurements. (%)]. Most study participants in both the target and comparison groups for all those six areas were in good or excellent health; did not statement having a history of specific symptoms, illness, or allergies; did not currently smoke; and did not live in a household in which someone else smoked (Table 3). Only in North Carolina did most study participants report using a coal stove, fireplace, kerosene or gas heater, or solid wood stove to heat their house. Most study participants in both Kentucky and North Carolina reported having occupational exposure to chemicals. Table 3 Self-reported symptoms and illnesses, responses to subjective questions, and other exposure information from six cross-sectional studies conducted by ATSDR 1991C1994 [(%)]. The proportion of study participants who experienced individual immunoglobulin test results (IgA, IgG, and IgM) either below or above the reference range varied by specific immunoglobulin and study site (Table 4). Overall, the percentage of study participants in both target and comparison groups with an immunoglobulin test result above the reference range was generally higher than the percentage of study participants with an immunoglobulin test result below the AZD0530 reference range. Table 4 Serum immunoglobulin results from six cross-sectional studies conducted by ATSDR 1991C1994 [(%)]. Multivariate analyses Furniture 5C7 show the ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) examining the relationship between area of residence (target vs. comparison) and having an immunoglobulin Rabbit Polyclonal to OR5B3. (IgA, IgG, IgM) test result below or AZD0530 above the reference range in six geographic areas using the different modeling strategies explained above. Results from the backward removal modeling strategy (model 5), which included interaction terms, are discussed individually. Table 5 OR estimates (95% CIs) for area of residence and IgA test results for six ATSDR studies conducted 1991C1994. Table 7 OR estimates (95% CIs) for area of residence and IgM test results for six ATSDR studies conducted 1991C1994. Immunoglobulin A Results below the reference range Target area residents in four study areas (California, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Texas) had an increased prevalence of having an IgA test AZD0530 result below the reference range compared with comparison area residents, whereas target area residents in two study areas (Massachusetts and Nebraska) experienced a decreased prevalence of having an IgA test result below the reference range (Table 5). OR estimates for Texas fell on both sides of the null, depending on which modeling strategy was used. Data were too sparse for North Carolina to generate adjusted OR estimates. All estimates were imprecise [upper-to-lower confidence limit ratio (CLR) > 4] (Poole 2001). Using the backward removal strategy (model 5), the models for California and Nebraska included conversation terms. In California, the odds of women living in the target area having an IgA test result below the reference range were 2.66 times those of women living in the comparison area. In contrast, the odds of males living in the target area having an IgA test result below the reference range were 1.16 times those of males living in the comparison area. In Nebraska, individuals who reported having allergies and who lived in the target area were 1.29 times more likely to.