Diet arithmetic

Early exposure assessments focused on diet and in particular hsh that had elevated concentrations relative to other animal products (Kiviranta et al, 2004 Ohta et al, 2002). These assessments were informed by our experience with PCBs and PCDD/F for which diet was clearly the main exposure route. The exposure assessments pointed to a missing source since dietary intake of PBDEs did not seem to account for some elevated levels being measured in breast milk or blood serum. A particular puzzle was the source of PBDEs to the few women with up to 1000 times higher concentrations in their breast milk relative to others. For example, Ryan (2004) reported that concentrations from 98 Canadian women ranged from 23 to 38 240ng/kg whole milk with an arithmetic mean and median of 2400 and 880ng/kg whole milk. Another puzzle was the tenfold... 

Statistical Analyses. Results were expressed as the arithmetic mean for each group SEM. For each diet, after ANOVA, the means from groups OA, LA, and ALA were classified using Duncan s multiple range t-test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. 

Sometimes doing a little arithmetic can help you interpret food labels or identify your own food needs. A few examples of very practical kinds of diet and food calculations follow. 

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