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Andrew Christian Todd

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, New York, New York, USA

Abstract

The technique of ¹⁰⁹Cd-based X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements of lead in bone is well established. A paper by some XRF researchers [Gordon CL, et al. The Reproducibility of ¹⁰⁹Cd-based X-ray Fluorescence Measurements of Bone Lead. Environ Health Perspect 102:690-694 (1994) ] presented the currently practiced method for calculating the variance of an in vivo measurement once a calibration line has been established. This paper corrects typographical errors in the method published by those authors ; presents a crude estimate of the measurement error that can be acquired without computational peak fitting programs ; and draws attention to the measurement error attributable to covariance, an important feature in the construct of the currently accepted method that is flawed under certain circumstances. Key words: bone, lead, measurement error, X-ray fluorescence. Environ Health Perspect 108:383-386 (2000) . [Online 15 March 2000]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p383-386todd/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to A.C. Todd, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029 USA. Telephone: (212) 241-1668. Fax: (212) 996-0407. E-mail: todd@mssm.edu

I thank S. Carroll for manuscript preparation, J.H. Godbold for statistical guidance, and D.R. Chettle for helpful discussions on the Gordon et al. "Appendix."

This project was supported by grants ES05697 and ES06616 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Received 26 July 1999 ; accepted 21 October 1999.