Characteristics of nickel-cadmium battery workers and biological parameters
| France (plant 1) | France (plant 2) | Sweden | USA | Total | |
| N | 251 | 221 | 111 | 16 | 599 |
| Women, n (%) | 58 (23.1) | 49 (22.2) | 35 (31.5) | 6 (37.5) | 148 (24.7) |
| Age, mean (SD), years | 47.8 (6.6) | 45.5 (11.3) | 40.1 (13.0) | 44.9 (7.2) | 45.4 (10.3) |
| Years of exposure, mean (SD) | 22.4 (8.1) | 18.3 (13.2) | 13.7 (10.2) | 13.4 (9.7) | 18.8 (11.3) |
| Never smoker, n (%) | 154 (61.4) | 107 (48.4) | 59 (53.2) | 12 (75.0) | 332 (55.4) |
| Ex-smokers | |||||
| n (%) | 27 (10.8) | 31 (14.0) | 24 (21.6) | 4 (25.0) | 86 (14.3) |
| Pack-years, mean (SD) | 8.3 (7.7) | 15.5 (13.7) | 11.0 (8.4) | 14.9 (8.3) | 11.9 (10.7) |
| Current smokers | |||||
| n (%) | 70 (27.9) | 83 (37.6) | 28 (25.2) | 0 (0) | 181 (30.2) |
| Pack-years, mean (SD) | 15.1 (10.2) | 16.2 (8.2) | 9.3 (9.8) | 0 (0) | 14.7 (9.5) |
| Urinary creatinine, median (IQR), g/l | 1.37 (0.93–1.80) | 1.13 (0.69–1.70) | 1.47 (1.08–1.90) | 1.53 (1.07–2.15) | 1.33 (0.86–1.80) |
| Urinary Cd, median (IQR) | |||||
| μg/l | 4.72 (2.23–7.84) | 1.27 (0.54–2.75) | 1.08 (0.49–2.74) | 1.48 (0.82–2.73) | 2.07 (0.86–5.42) |
| μg/g creatinine | 3.40 (1.74–6.40) | 1.24 (0.51–2.81) | 0.81 (0.31–1.92) | 0.98 (0.73–1.31) | 1.82 (0.75–4.11) |
| Urinary RBP, median (IQR) | |||||
| μg/l | 168 (108–295) | 136 (82.0–219) | 145 (85.6–215) | 117 (64.5–206) | 152 (88.5–252) |
| μg/g creatinine | 129 (91.5–194) | 119 (80.0–180) | 100 (69.0–140) | 83.8 (57.0–102) | 117 (80.4–176) |
| Urinary, β2-m*, median (IQR) | |||||
| μg/l | 80.0 (36.0–153) | 72.7 (48.2–119) | 81.5 (52.0–131) | 88.0 (26.0–135) | 79.0 (43.0–132) |
| μg/g creatinine | 69.0 (33.9–132) | 75.5 (31.7–137) | 59.2 (39.5–89.8) | 62.5 (9.90–90.1) | 66.1 (33.5–122) |
↵* n=228, 152, 98, 14 for total of 492.
β2-m, concentration of β2-microglobulin; Cd, concentration of cadmium; IQR, interquartile range; RBP, concentration of retinol-binding protein.