Levels of non-ortho-substituted (coplanar), mono- and di-ortho-substituted polychlorinated biphenyls, dibenzo-p-dioxins, and dibenzofurans in human serum and adipose tissue.

Abstract

We have measured non-ortho-substituted (coplanar) polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels as well as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) levels in human adipose tissue and serum collected in Atlanta, Georgia. The results show that the concentrations ofthe coplanar PCBs can be more than an order of magnitude higher than the concentrations of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Our measurements in pooled serum collected in 1962, 1988, and 1969 show a decrease in coplanar PCB levelsfrom 1982 to 1989. Wefound that the pattern ofrelative amounts ofcoplanar PCBs in adipose tissue varied greatly from person to person unlike the PCDD and PCDF patterns, which were more nearly the same. Age was significantly correlated with the concentrations of 2,3,7,3,3'4,3,3',4,4A,5-PCB, and 3,3'4A,45,5'-PCB in adipose tissue. We also measured levels of the mono-and di-ortho chlorinesubstituted PCBs in human serum. The levels for some of these PCB congeners were three orders of magnitude higher than the coplanar PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs. We used the international toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs) for PCDDs and PCDFs and the TEFs proposed by Safe for PCBs to calculate the 2,3,7,-TCDD equivalents. Four PCBs (3,3',4,4,5-;

Dioxin-Like TEQ of women from the Seveso, Italy area by ID-HRGC/HRMS and CALUX

“…It is noteworthy that two congeners of monoortho PCBs (PCB 118, PCB 156) individually contributed more to total TEQ than TCDD. Finally, consistent with that reported by others (Svensson et al, 1991;Patterson et al, 1994;Papke 1998;Kiviranta et al, 2002), we found that age was a significant predictor of Total TEQ in this Italian sample.…”

“…Also, the distribution of congeners was similar to that reported for other North American and European countries (Patterson et al, 1994;Papke 1998) with the four most prevalent analytes being OCDD,2,3,4,7,PCB 126,and PCB 169. We also found the four categories of compounds (PCDD, PCDFs, coplanar PCBs, mono-ortho-PCBs) contributed a roughly similar percent to Total TEQ (B25%).…”

“…In particular, in background-exposed populations, these other congeners may contribute a large portion of TEQ relative to TCDD. Numerous exposure data have been published for residents of countries throughout the world, including Europe, North America, and Japan (Patterson et al, 1994;Papke 1998;Falk et al, 1999;Longnecker et al, 2000). These data suggest there are regional differences in congener profiles of TEQ exposure and these differences may be due to variations in diet as well as area industrial sources.…”

Understanding the human health effects of chemical mixtures.

“…Because coplanar PCBs are dioxinlike, these observations are relevant to PCB exposure as well. Some studies show that PCBs contribute more to toxic equivalents for dioxin than TCDD itself (155).…”

Case–control study of PCBs, other organochlorines and breast cancer in Eastern Slovakia

“…Lipophilicity and resistance to degradation leads to bioaccumulation of these compounds in the food chain and in human adipose tissue, blood lipids and breast milk (Hansen, 1987;Patterson et al, 1994). PCBs and DDT analogs have been implicated as risk factors for breast cancer because of their potential to act as direct or indirect carcinogens (Safe, 1989;Ahlborg et al, 1995;Cogliano, 1998), their estrogenic and antiestrogenic properties (Bulger et al, 1983;McKinney and Waller, 1994;Brouwer et al, 1999), their ability to induce cytochrome p450 enzymes (Safe, 1994), and their alteration of mammary gland differentiation and proliferation (Brown and Lamartiniere, 1995).…”