The spatial distribution of human exposure to PCBs around a former production site in Slovakia

Abstract

We evaluated concentrations of 15 PCB congeners in blood serum of 2,047 adults, 431 8-9-years old children and 1,134 mother-child pairs born in 2001-2003. These subjects were long-standing residents living up to 70 km (to the north) and up to 50 km (to the south) of the former Chemko Strážske PCB production facility in the Michalovce district of Slovakia. We plotted serum concentration against distance from the plant both with and without consideration of the direction of their homes from the site. The decrease in exposure with distance could be described by an exponential function which was dependent on direction and climatic parameters. By kriging we created maps depicting predicted isoconcentration contours for sex- and age-adjusted serum concentration of ΣPCBs for the same group of children, adults and mothers. The principle of our risk analysis was to relate serum concentration data, reflecting PCB body burden, using the critical concentrations established by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES 2010) as thresholds below which the probability of effects on health is regarded as negligible. We conclude that 10 years ago around 200,000 residents were at risk in this densely populated area. Exposure has since decreased but the mechanism for this has not yet been studied.

Relative effect potency estimates of dioxin-like activity for dioxins, furans, and dioxin-like PCBs in adults based on cytochrome P450 1A1 and 1B1 gene expression in blood

“…In brief, our initial sample group of 2047 adults was drawn from a population living in the Michalovce, Svidnik, and Stropkov districts in eastern Slovakia, an area known to be contaminated by a mixture of organochlorines (Jursa et al, 2006; Langer et al, 2007; Petrik et al, 2006; Wimmerová et al, 2015). Of the 2047 adults, 320 were willing to provide 90 mL of blood for analysis of PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs.…”

Threats to water resources from hexachlorobenzene waste at Kalush City (Ukraine)—a review of the risks and the remediation options

“…The protection of human health and the environment from POPs is the principal aim of the Stockholm Convention (Stockholm Convention 2001). High levels of POP contamination, including hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), or perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), have been documented at production sites and related landfills (Amirova and Weber 2015;Fernández et al 2013;Jit et al 2010;Oliaei et al 2013;Torres et al 2013a;Torres et al 2013b;Wimmerová et al 2015;Vijgen et al 2011;Wycisk et al 2013). Furthermore, the production of certain organochlorine chemicals has resulted in the formation…”

The need for better management and control of POPs stockpiles

“…Core IHPA themes (www.ihpa.info) addressed in this issue include the management of pesticide/POPs stockpiles (Van Thuong et al 2014;Pieterse et al 2015;Vijgen et al 2011); pollution by HCH and other POPs at former production site (Amirova and Weber 2015; Torres et al 2013;Wimmerová et al 2015;Wycisk et al 2013); and actions and proposals for moving towards solutions for legacy POPs contamination .…”

“…Also, the development of a UNDP/UNIDO/GEF project to destroy POPs stockpiles and deposits with noncombustion technologies at the former PCB production site in Slovakia (IHPA 2006) failed the last decade, and the study of Wimmerová et al (2015) highlight the contemporary risk of PCB at this site and its impact on the population in more than 50-km distance. Kawamoto et al (2014) describe the dioxin formation and control of a non-combustion technology.…”