PCB and PCDF congeners in the blood and tissues of yusho and yu-cheng patients.

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) poisonings occurred in western Japan, where it is called yusho, in 1968, and in central Taiwan, where it is called yu-cheng, in 1979. The average concentrations of PCBs in the adipose tissue, liver and blood of yusho patients and in the blood of yu-cheng patients were 1.9 ppm, 0.08 ppm, 6.7 ppb and 99 ppb, respectively. Seven PCB congeners, such as 2,4,5,3',4'-pentachloro-, 2,3,4,3',4'-pentachloro-, 2,4,5,2',4',5'-hexachloro-, 2,3,4,2',4',5'-hexachloro-, 2,3,4,5,3',4'-hexachloro-, 2,3,4,5,2',4',5'-heptachloro- and 2,3,4,5,2',3',4'-heptachloro biphenyls were identified in the blood and tissues of patients with yusho and yu-cheng and controls. The concentration of 2,3,4,5,3',4'-hexachlorobiphenyl was comparatively higher in the patients than in controls. The concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in the adipose tissue and liver of yusho patients were 6 to 13 ppb and 3 to 25 ppb, respectively, while no PCDFs were detected in the controls. Major PCDF congeners identified in the tissues and blood of yusho and yu-cheng patients were the 2,3,6,8-tetrachloro-, 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-, 1,2,4,7,8-pentachloro-, 2,3,4,7,8-pentachloro- and 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexachlorodibenzofurans (DFs), of which the 2,3,4,7,8-pentachloro compound was predominant. The concentrations of methylthio-PCB in the liver, lung and adipose tissue of yusho patients were 0.1 to 0.5, 0.2 to 1.4 and 0.5 to 1.0 ppb, respectively, and those of methysulfone PCBs were 0.3 to 0.7, 1.0 to 2.5 and 0.7 to 1.0 ppb, respectively. Some of the major peaks of the PCB methylthio and methylsulfone derivatives were identical in gas chromatographic retention times with those of 4-methylthio- and 4-methylsulfone-2,5,2',5'-tetrachlorobiphenyl PCDFs, especially 2,3,4,7,8-pentachloro DF, appear to be mainly responsible in the poisonings.

Mortality after exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dibenzofurans: 30 years after the “Yucheng Accident”

“…It may be worth noting that, throughout follow-up, there has been a larger excess of non-malignant liver disease mortality, but not liver cancer mortality, among Yucheng subjects compared with Yusho subjects from Japan. The differences might be due to the differences in the degree and character of the contaminants in the rice oil (Masuda et al, 1985), or to the different prevalence of some other etiologic factor, such as aflatoxin (Montesano, R. et al, 1997). or hepatitis virus (CDC., 2008) between Japan and Taiwan.…”

Decreased sex ratio following maternal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls from contaminated Great Lakes sport-caught fish: a retrospective cohort study.

“…The specific PCB congeners to which people were exposed following the Yucheng and Yusho incidents may have been somewhat different from those found in Great Lakes fish and fish consumers [3,49,51,54-56], and, unlike exposure to PCBs from Great Lakes fish, the Yucheng and Yusho incidents also involved significant exposure to polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) as a result of heating the contaminated rice oil for cooking [49,51,54]. Whether these differences could explain the differences in sex ratio findings between the Yusho and Yu-cheng incidents and our findings is not clear.…”

Effects of a single dose of polychlorinated biphenyls to infant mice on N‐nitrosodimethylamine‐initiated lung and liver tumors

“…These chemicals are major constituents of Aroclor 1254 (Kaminsky and Fasco, 1978;Albro et al, 1981), and are known to be retained in the bodies of rats and mice due to lack of vicinal unsubstituted sites for epoxidation (Matthews and Anderson, 1975;Gage and Holm, 1976). These congeners are also prominent in samples taken from humans, both with and without known or suspected PCB exposure, in various areas of the world (Bush et al, 1984;Masuda et al, 1985;Wolff et al, 1982). Further experiments are required tc determine whether the biological effects measured in our experiment were due to these congeners, rather than to early actions of more rapidly eliminated components of Aroclor 1254.…”