Determinants of serum polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides measured in women from the child health and development study cohort, 1963-1967.

Abstract

We examined predictors of organochlorine concentrations in serum specimens from women who were pregnant in the 1960s and participated in the Child Health and Development Study in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. That study enrolled pregnant women at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Facilities, conducted interviews, and drew blood specimens; these specimens were centrifuged and the resulting serum specimens were frozen and placed in long-term storage. For the current investigation, organochlorines were measured by dual-column GC-electron capture detection in specimens collected in 1963-1967 from 399 pregnant women during the second and third trimesters. Using multiple linear regression models adjusted for serum lipids, we evaluated factors predicting concentrations of 11 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, their sum, and several pesticides and metabolites. Variables evaluated were age, race, place of birth, date of blood draw, body mass index, occupation, past residence on a farm, parity, and duration of pregnancy at blood draw. Concentrations of highly chlorinated PCBs and the sum of the PCBs increased with age. Concentrations of certain PCB congeners, as well as the sum, were significantly higher among nonwhites and increased with calendar date of blood draw. (italic)p,p(/italic) -DDT and (italic)p,p(/italic) -DDE concentrations were about 50% higher for nonwhites compared with whites and for those born in California or the southeastern United States versus elsewhere in the United States. Higher body mass index was associated with lower concentrations of several PCBs and (italic)p,p(/italic) -DDE but with higher heptachlor epoxide and DDT levels. The increase in use of PCBs during the 1960s is apparently detectable as increasing concentrations in maternal sera between 1963 and 1967. Marked racial and regional differences in serum pesticide levels were likely caused by geographic variation in previous agricultural and vector-control uses. The relationship to body mass index appears to be complex.

Serum PCB concentrations in relation to locally produced food items in eastern Slovakia

“…In our study, the median for these four congeners was 367 ng/g lipid and comparable to those of Faroe Islanders in 1994-1995 (median for the sum of 118, 138, 153 and 180 congeners ¼ 640 ng/g lipid) (Steuerwald et al, 2000). Other researchers have reported median PCB-153 values of: 30 (ng/g lipid) (Korrick et al, 2000) in US/ Massachusetts (1993-1998; 140 (ng/g lipid) (Walkowiak et al, 2001) in Germany/Dusseldorf (1993-1995; 100 (ng/g lipid) (Muckle et al, 2001) in Canada/Northern Quebec (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998); and 133 (ng/g lipid) (James et al, 2002) in US California (1964)(1965)(1966)(1967). In our study the median serum PCB-153 was 141 (ng/g lipid).…”

“…In our study, the number of total months that a woman had breast-fed her children was also inversely associated with serum PCB levels, consistent with this route as an efficient means of excretion from the mother but a substantial source of exposure for the infant. Some studies have found an inverse association between pre-pregnancy BMI and serum PCB levels in pregnant women (James et al, 2002;Glynn et al, 2007). Glynn et al (2007) attribute this to a dilution effect associated with the rapid weight gain during pregnancy, which might be greater in those with high BMI to begin with.…”

Dioxin-like activity in the blood of Greenlandic Inuit and Danish women: a pilot study

“…As the literature has shown (35,36), age and seafood intake are examples of exposure risk factors. N-3 fatty acids are known indicators of seafood intake (1), and we used the ratio of n-3/n-6 fatty acids as measures of seafood.…”

Improving Organochlorine Biomarker Models for Cancer Research

“…In the body, organochlorine compounds reside mainly in adipose (80%), with rapid, passive distribution to blood and other tissues proportional to their neutral lipid content. Yet, body mass index (BMI; weight in kg divided by height in meters squared), a surrogate for adiposity, exhibits both positive and negative correlations with organochlorine compound levels in cross-sectional studies (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). On the other hand, reported relationships between BMI and elimination rate (expressed as rate constants or half-life) are consistently positive, such that a higher BMI results in a longer half-life (13,15,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27).…”