{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T05:17:29Z","timestamp":1790140649597,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]],"date-time":"2020-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1608076800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000102","name":"Health Resources and Services Administration","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["T76MC00011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["T76MC00011"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000102","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Melamine is a high-production-volume chemical and a kidney toxicant. Diet is a key source of melamine exposure, yet little is known about which foods in the US diet may be contaminated. This study evaluated the associations of foods and dietary patterns with melamine exposure using data from 478 US adults and children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003\u20132004. Melamine concentrations were measured in spot urine samples. Dietary recalls were used to collect dietary data from the day preceding urine collection. Melamine was detectable (&gt;0.09 ng\/mL) in 76.2% of the participants\u2019 urine. The geometric mean urinary melamine was 11.563 \u00b5g\/g of creatinine (standard error (SE): 1.235). In adjusted linear regression models, each additional ounce of processed meats or whole grains was associated with 10.6% (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.7, 19.0; p = 0.007) or 17.4% (95% CI: 4.7, 31.7; p = 0.006) greater creatinine-adjusted melamine concentrations, respectively. A dietary pattern characterized by high fruit, whole grain, milk, and yogurt intake was positively associated with melamine exposure. In conclusion, processed meats, whole grains, and possibly other plant-based foods may be important melamine sources in the US. Future research should confirm these findings using more recent data and examine the potential health risks of chronic low-level melamine exposure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu12123844","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]],"date-time":"2020-12-16T09:21:15Z","timestamp":1608110475000},"page":"3844","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Dietary Sources of Melamine Exposure among US Children and Adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003\u20132004"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6624-1478","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Melissa","family":"Melough","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children\u2019s Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6624-1478","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Deborah","family":"Foster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amanda M.","family":"Fretts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sheela","family":"Sathyanarayana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children\u2019s Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM), and EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) (2010). 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