Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Estimation of Nephron Number in Whole Kidney using the Acid Maceration Method
Published on: May 22, 2019
Decision rule approach applied to estimate occupational lead exposure in a case-control study of kidney cancer
Catherine L Callahan1, Sarah J Locke1, Pamela J Dopart1
1Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
Background:
We developed a systematic, data-driven approach to estimate metrics of occupational exposure to lead to aid in epidemiologic analyses in a case-control study of kidney cancer.
Methods:
Probability of exposure to ten lead sources was assigned using decision rules developed from an extensive literature review and expert judgement. For jobs with >50% probability of exposure, we assigned source-specific frequency based on subjects' self-reported task frequencies or means of subjects' job-groups and source-specific intensity estimates of blood lead (μg/dL).
Results:
In our study, 18.7% of employed person-years were associated with high (≥80%) probability of exposure to any lead source. The most common medium (>50%) or high probability source of lead exposure was leaded gasoline (2.5% and 11.5% of employed person-years, respectively). The median blood lead attributed to occupational exposure was 3.1 μg/dL.
Conclusions:
These rules can aid in future studies after population-specific adaption for geographic differences and different exposure scenarios.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Substitution Rule Applied to Indefinite Integrals
Substitution Rule Applied to Definite Integrals
Phase-lead and Phase-lag Controllers
Time and frequency -Domain Interpretation of Phase-lead Control
The design of phase-lead control involves the strategic placement of poles and zeros to balance steady-state error and system...
Lewis Symbols and the Octet Rule

