Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of 209 congeners with varying biological actions. Humans are exposed to many of these; in human tissue samples, depending on the chemical methods used, the number of congeners that can be detected ranges as high as 60 or 70. In addition, humans are exposed to related compounds, such as dioxins and furans. When studying health effects of PCBs, the appropriate exposure measure to use is not clear; most studies either have used a measure of total PCBs or have examined selected individual congeners. In deciding what measure to use, it is important to realize that exposures of humans are to mixtures of relatively standard proportions rather than to individual congeners independently. The resulting correlations among congeners impact the conclusions that can and should be drawn from studies of health effects, so it is important to know what the correlations usually are. We have described correlations among 34 PCBs, 7 dioxins, and 5 furans in blood from 63 Canadian blood donors. We are currently examining correlations among 40 PCBs in milk from 497 Canadian mothers.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Intramural Research (Z01)
Project #
1Z01ES040012-01
Application #
6413510
Study Section
(BB)
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
U.S. National Inst of Environ Hlth Scis
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
State
Country
United States
Zip Code

  Publications

Kamel, F; Engel, L S; Gladen, B C et al. (2007) Neurologic symptoms in licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Hum Exp Toxicol 26:243-50
Romano-Riquer, S Patricia; Hernandez-Avila, Mauricio; Gladen, Beth C et al. (2007) Reliability and determinants of anogenital distance and penis dimensions in male newborns from Chiapas, Mexico. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 21:219-28
Gladen, Beth (2006) Questions regarding the basis of the analyses in study of the relationship of maternal concentrations of dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (DDE) and initiation and duration of breast feeding: extrapolations of organochlorine levels for estimating exposure Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 20:360-1; author reply 362-4
Ribas-Fito, Nuria; Gladen, Beth C; Brock, John W et al. (2006) Prenatal exposure to 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'-DDE) in relation to child growth. Int J Epidemiol 35:853-8
Gladen, Beth C; Klebanoff, Mark A; Hediger, Mary L et al. (2004) Prenatal DDT exposure in relation to anthropometric and pubertal measures in adolescent males. Environ Health Perspect 112:1761-7
Longnecker, Matthew P; Wolff, Mary S; Gladen, Beth C et al. (2003) Comparison of polychlorinated biphenyl levels across studies of human neurodevelopment. Environ Health Perspect 111:65-70
Gladen, Beth C; Shkiryak-Nyzhnyk, Zoreslava A; Chyslovska, Nataliya et al. (2003) Persistent organochlorine compounds and birth weight. Ann Epidemiol 13:151-7
Gladen, Beth C; Doucet, Josee; Hansen, Larry G (2003) Assessing human polychlorinated biphenyl contamination for epidemiologic studies: lessons from patterns of congener concentrations in Canadians in 1992. Environ Health Perspect 111:437-43
Gladen, B C; Ragan, N B; Rogan, W J (2000) Pubertal growth and development and prenatal and lactational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene. J Pediatr 136:490-6
Longnecker, M P; Gladen, B C; Patterson Jr, D G et al. (2000) Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure in relation to thyroid hormone levels in neonates. Epidemiology 11:249-54

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