Changes in thyroid hormone related proteins and gene expression induced by polychlorinated biphenyls and halogen flame retardants exposure of children in a Chinese e-waste recycling area

Human exposure to halogenated and organophosphate flame retardants through informal e-waste handling activities - A critical review

“…Such findings indicate high external exposure of local populations (resident exposure) to HFRs and OPFRs through inhalation (Iqbal et al, 2017;Qin et al, 2019), ingestion (Anh et al, 2017;Huang et al, 2018), and dermal absorption (Wu et al, 2016a). Elevated internal exposure of local residents has also been demonstrated by reported concentrations of HFRs or OPFRs in human matrices like serum (Guo et al, 2018(Guo et al, , 2020Lv et al, 2015), hair (Liang et al, 2016;Qiao et al, 2019), milk (Li et al, 2017), and urine (Lu et al, 2017;Shi et al, 2019) in informal e-waste sites in South China (e.g., Qingyuan, Luqiao, and Wenling). Such evidence of elevated human exposure has raised concerns about potential adverse health effects on populations impacted by informal e-waste treatment (Akram et al, 2019;Asante et al, 2019;Awasthi et al, 2016Awasthi et al, , 2018Bakhiyi et al, 2018;Orisakwe et al, 2019;Shi et al, 2018).…”

“…In addition to assessments of external exposure, internal human exposure to HFRs and OPFRs has also been frequently examined in various informal e-waste dismantling and recycling areas, with human blood and serum (Chen et al, 2015;Eguchi et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2020;Lv et al, 2015;Schecter et al, 2018), human hair (Chen et al, 2015;Liang et al, 2016;Qiao et al, 2019), human milk (Awasthi et al, 2016;Li et al, 2017;Shi et al, 2018), and human urine (Bai et al, 2019;Lu et al, 2017;Shi et al, 2019;Yan et al, 2018) being the most commonly used biomarkers. An overview of recent studies (i.e.…”

Effects of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers on Hormonal and Reproductive Health in E-Waste-Exposed Population: A Systematic Review

“…An NMDR is conceivable considering the complexities of thyroid hormone secretion and feedback mechanisms, multiple PBDE modes of action, and some observational studies obeying a U-shaped curve. However, not all studies agree with the relationship suggested by Zhao et al [78], specifically Guo et al [41] and Guo et al [42], who showed that the PBDE levels were high, but reported significant negative associations for TT4 and TSH with BDE-47, 100, 153, 183, 209, and ∑PBDEs. Furthermore, Wang et al [45] and Xu et al [47] found that TSH levels were lower in exposed populations with high (>100 ng/g lipid) ∑PBDE levels, albeit no significant associations were reported.…”

“…The literature search and screening process flowchart is shown in Figure 2, and a list of included studies is provided in Supplementary Material S2. Thirteen studies (68.4%) assessed thyroid-related health outcomes [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51], three studies (15.7%) assessed reproductive hormones [40,49,52], two studies (10.5%) assessed semen quality [49,53], and six studies (31.5%) measured neonatal health [44,51,[54][55][56][57]. In addition, one study assessed adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone, and cortisol, and two studies assessed insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) [46,48,57].…”

“…Furthermore, effects on children are understudied, considering they have the highest exposure following occupationally exposed people and are the most vulnerable populations to environmental exposures [120]. The articles in this review that assessed effects on children due to PBDE exposure observed significant alterations in thyroid hormones [41,48], alongside the association of prenatal maternal exposures with neonatal health indices, which could be an indication of possible long-term health implications. Therefore, longitudinal cohort studies are suggested for children exposed to PBDEs to improve our understanding of their long-term health impacts.…”