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David H. Garabrant,¹ Alfred Franzblau,¹ James Lepkowski,² Brenda W. Gillespie,³ Peter Adriaens,⁴ Avery Demond,⁴ Barbara Ward,² Kathy LaDronka,² Elizabeth Hedgeman,¹ Kristine Knutson,¹ Lynn Zwica,¹ Kristen Olson,^2,5 Timothy Towey,⁴ Qixuan Chen,³ and Biling Hong¹

¹Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Risk Science Center, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; ²Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; ³Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; ⁴Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; ⁵Survey Research and Methodology Program, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Gallup Research Center, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Abstract
Background: The University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study (UMDES) was undertaken in response to concerns that the discharge of dioxin-like compounds from the Dow Chemical Company facilities in Midland, Michigan, resulted in contamination of soils in the Tittabawassee River floodplain and areas of the city of Midland, leading to an increase in residents’ body burdens of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans.

Objectives: The UMDES is a hypothesis-driven study designed to answer important questions about human exposure to dioxins in the environment of Midland, where the Dow Chemical Company has operated for > 100 years, and in neighboring Saginaw, Michigan. In addition, the UMDES includes a referent population from an area of Michigan in which there are no unusual sources of dioxin exposure and from which inferences regarding the general Michigan population can be derived. A central goal of the study is to determine which factors explain variation in serum dioxin levels and to quantify how much variation each factor explains.

Conclusions: In this article we describe the study design and methods for a large population-based study of dioxin contamination and its relationship to blood dioxin levels. The study collected questionnaire, blood, dust, and soil samples on 731 people. This study provides a foundation for understanding the exposure pathways by which dioxins in soils, sediments, fish and game, and homegrown produce lead to increased body burdens of these compounds.

Key words: biomonitoring, diet, dioxins, environmental exposure, epidemiology, population-based, serum, soil, survey. Environ Health Perspect 117:803–810 (2009) . doi:10.1289/ehp.11777 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 22 December 2008]

Address correspondence to D.H. Garabrant, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, SPHII, Room 6529, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029 USA. Telephone: (734) 936-0753. Fax: (734) 763-7170. E-mail: dhg@umich.edu

We thank S. Vantine for assistance, and L. Birnbaum, R. Hites, P. Boffetta, D. Kleinbaum, and M.H. Sweeney for guidance as members of our scientific advisory board.

Financial support came from the Dow Chemical Company through an unrestricted grant to the University of Michigan.

D.H.G. and A.F. have at times been retained as consultants and served as expert witnesses for the Dow Chemical Company. The remaining authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 9 June 2008 ; accepted 22 December 2008.