GLIN==> New article on PCBs in EHP

["Alex J. Sagady & Associates" <ajs@sagady.com>]

New article on PCBs and neurotoxicity in Environmental Health
Perspectives.....abstract follows

Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 111, Number 1, January 2003

Comparison of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Levels across Studies of Human 
Neurodevelopment

Matthew P. Longnecker,1 Mary S. Wolff,2 Beth C. Gladen,3 John W. Brock,4 
Philippe Grandjean,5 Joseph L. Jacobson,6 Susan A. Korrick,7 Walter J. 
Rogan,1 Nynke Weisglas-Kuperus,8 Irva Hertz-Picciotto,9 Pierre Ayotte,10 
Paul Stewart,11 Gerhard Winneke,12 M. Judith Charles,13 Sandra W. 
Jacobson,14 Éric Dewailly,10 E. Rudy Boersma,15 Larisa M. Altshul,16 Birger 
Heinzow,17 James J. Pagano,18 and Allan A. Jensen19

1Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; 2Department of Community and 
Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, 
USA; 4Biostatistics Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health 
Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; 4National Center for 
Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, 
Georgia, USA; 5Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 
Odense, Denmark; 6Psychology Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, 
Michigan; 7 Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and 
Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Department of Environmental 
Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 
8Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus University and 
University Hospital/Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 
9Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North 
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; 10 Department of Social and 
Preventive Medicine, Laval University and Public Health Research Unit, CHUQ 
Research Center (CHUL), Beauport, Québec, Canada; 11Department of 
Psychology, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, New York, USA; 
12Medical Institute of Environmental Hygiene at Heinrich-Heine-University 
Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; 13Department of Environmental Toxicology, 
University of California, Davis, California, USA; 14Department of 
Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of 
Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA; 15 Perinatal Nutrition and Development 
Unit, Department of Obstetrics/Pediatrics, University Hospital Groningen, 
Groningen, The Netherlands; 16Department of Environmental Health, Harvard 
School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 17Institute of 
Environmental Toxicology, Kiel, Germany; 18Environmental Research Center, 
State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, New York, USA; 19DK-Teknik 
Energy and Environment, Søborg, Denmark


Full Article in HTML
Full Article in PDF

EHP-in-Press

Abstract
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent pollutants that are 
ubiquitous in the food chain, and detectable amounts are in the blood of 
almost every person in most populations that have been examined. Extensive 
evidence from animal studies shows that PCBs are neurotoxins, even at low 
doses. Interpretation of human data regarding low-level, early-life PCB 
exposure and subsequent neurodevelopment is problematic because levels of 
exposure were not similarly quantified across studies. We expressed the 
exposure levels from 10 studies of PCB and neurodevelopment in a uniform 
manner using a combination of data from original investigators, laboratory 
reanalyses, calculations based on published data, and expert opinion. The 
mainstay of our comparison was the median level of PCB 153 in maternal 
pregnancy serum. The median concentration of PCB 153 in the 10 studies 
ranged from 30 to 450 ng/g serum lipid, and the median of the 10 medians 
was 110 ng/g. We found that a) the distribution of PCB 153 exposure in most 
studies overlapped substantially, b) exposure levels in the Faroe Islands 
study were about 3-4-fold higher than in most other studies, and c ) the 
exposure levels in the two recent U.S. studies were about one-third of 
those in the four earlier U.S. studies or recent Dutch, German, and 
northern Québec studies. Our results will facilitate a direct comparison of 
the findings on PCBs and neurodevelopment when they are published for all 
10 studies. Key words: child development, environmental exposure, 
environmental pollutants, neurotoxins, polychlorinated biphenyls. Environ 
Health Perspect 111:65-70 (2003). [Online 2 December 2002]

doi:10.1289/ehp.5463 available via http://dx.doi.org/

Address correspondence to M.P. Longnecker, NIEHS Epidemiology Branch, PO 
Box 12233, MD A3-05, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA. Telephone (919) 
541-5118. Fax: (919) 541-2511. E-mail: longnecker@niehs.nih.gov

Information about the source of funding for each study included in the 
analysis can be found in the original articles cited herein.

Received 15 January 2002; accepted 17 June 2002.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex J. Sagady & Associates  http://my.voyager.net/~ajs/sagady.pdf

Environmental Enforcement, Technical Review, Public Policy and
Communications on Air, Water and Waste/Community Environmental Protection

PO Box 39,  East Lansing, MI  48826-0039
(517) 332-6971; (517) 332-8987 (fax); ajs@sagady.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
glin-announce is hosted by the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN):
http://www.great-lakes.net
To subscribe: http://www.glin.net/forms/glin-announce_form.html
To post a message: http://www.glin.net/forms/glin-announce_post.html
To search the archive: http://www.glin.net/lists/glin-announce/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *