Variability in PCB and OH-PCB Serum Levels in Children and Their Mothers in Urban and Rural U.S. Communities

Abstract

Environmental exposures that affect accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in humans are complex and not fully understood. One challenge in linking environmental exposure to accumulation is determining variability of PCB concentrations in samples collected from the same person at different times. We hypothesized that PCBs in human blood serum are consistent from year to year in people who live in the same environment between sampling. We analyzed blood serum from children and their mothers from urban and rural U.S. communities (n = 200) for all 209 PCBs (median ∑PCBs = 45 ng/g lw) and 12 hydroxylated PCBs (median ∑OH-PCBs = 0.09 ng/g fw). A subset of these participants (n = 155) also had blood PCB and OH-PCB concentrations analyzed during the previous calendar year. Although many participants had similar levels of PCBs and OH-PCBs in their blood from one year to the next, some participants had surprisingly different levels. Year-to-year variability in ∑PCBs ranged from −87% to 567% and in ∑OH-PCBs ranged from −51 to 358% (5th–95th percentile). This is the first study to report variability of all PCBs and major metabolites in two generations of people and suggests short-term exposures to PCBs may be a significant component of what is measured in human serum.

Hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls in human sera from adolescents and their mothers living in two U.S. Midwestern communities

“…AESOP Study participants consume relatively low amounts of seafood (Ampleman et al, 2015). The concentration range of ΣOH-PCBs in this study was similar to our previous studies which analyzed AESOP Study serum samples collected between 2008 and 2010 for a limited set of 4 or 12 OH-PCBs (Marek et al, 2013b; Marek et al, 2014). …”

“…OH-PCBs in human sera were extracted and separated from PCBs using a method described previously (Hovander et al, 2000; Marek et al, 2013b; Marek et al, 2014). Four grams of serum from each participant were spiked with 0.65 ng of 13 C-labeled PCB surrogate standards and 10 ng of 4′-OH-PCB 159 just before extraction.…”

“…Methods for instrumental analysis of PCBs and OH-PCBs were previously published (Marek et al, 2013b; Marek et al, 2014). Briefly, PCBs and OH-PCBs (as MeO-PCBs) were analyzed and quantified using an Agilent 7000 GC-MS/MS under multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM).…”

“…OH-PCBs, the major metabolites of PCBs in humans, have been detected in human tissues and fluids (Guvenius et al, 2002; Nomiyama et al, 2010; Fangstrom et al, 2002; 2005; Hovander et al, 2002; 2006; Sandanger et al, 2004; Weiss et al, 2006; Park et al, 2007; 2009; Hisada et al, 2013; Marek et al, 2013b; 2014). Recent studies also found OH-PCBs in sediments (Marek et al, 2013a) and human waste has been proposed as a source to surface waters (Ueno et al, 2007).…”

“…We tested our hypothesis using an analytical method that allowed for detection of a much larger suite of OH-PCBs than has been previously examined. Most prior studies of OH-PCBs in humans have reported only a few OH-PCB congeners (Soechitram et al, 2004; Fangstrom et al, 2005; Hovander et al, 2006; Weiss et al, 2006; Park et al, 2008) including our laboratory (Marek et al, 2013b; 2014). Two exceptions are a study that measured 90 OH-PCB congeners and detected 35 in serum of Japanese women (Nomiyama et al, 2010) and another that identified 38 OH-PCBs in plasma (Hovander et al, 2002).…”