Dioxins levels in human blood after implementation of measures against dioxin exposure in Japan

Abstract

BackgroundOver the past few decades, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment has been biomonitoring dioxins in the general Japanese population and, in response to public concerns, has taken measures to reduce dioxin exposure. The objectives of this study were to assess the current dioxin dietary intake and corresponding body burden in the Japanese and compare Japanese dioxin data from 2011 to 2016 and 2002–2010 surveys. We also examined the relationship between blood dioxins and health parameters/clinical biomarkers.MethodsFrom 2011 to 2016, cross-sectional dioxin surveys were conducted on 490 Japanese (242 males and 248 females, aged 49.9 ± 7.6 years) from 15 Japanese prefectures. Blood (n = 490) and food samples (n = 90) were measured for 29 dioxin congeners including polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) using gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Using the 2006 World Health Organization toxic equivalence factors, the toxic equivalents (TEQs) were calculated. Clinical biomarkers and anthropometric parameters were also measured and information on lifestyle behaviours collected. Data imputations were applied to account for blood dioxins below the detection limit.ResultsThe median (95% confidence interval or CI) blood levels and dioxin dietary intake was respectively 9.4 (8.8–9.9) pg TEQ/g lipid and 0.3 (0.2–0.4) pg TEQ/kg body weight/day. The median blood dioxin level in the 2011–2016 survey was found to have decreased by 41.3% compared to the 2002–2010 surveys. Participants who were older were found to be more likely to have higher dioxin levels. Blood dioxins were also significantly associated with body mass index, triglycerides, docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and dihomo-gamma-linoleic acid levels in blood. Furthermore, associations between blood dioxin and dietary dioxin intake were evident in the unadjusted models. However, after adjusting for confounders, blood dioxins were not found to be associated with dietary dioxin intake.ConclusionsBlood dioxin levels declined over the past decade. This study showed that the measures and actions undertaken in Japan have possibly contributed to these reductions in the body burden of dioxins in the Japanese population.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12199-018-0755-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Concentrations of PCDD/Fs in Human Blood: A Review of Data from the Current Decade

“…The median total TEQ in the blood of participants living in fishing villages was 11.0 (9.7–12.0) pg TEQ/g fat, a value relatively higher compared to those found in urban, 7.4 (5.8–8.8) pg TEQ/g fat, and agricultural/farming areas, 8.3 (7.5–9.1) pg TEQ/g fat. Median blood dioxins and dietary dioxin intake were approximately 41% lower compared with data obtained in the period 2002–2010 [42]. These results are in agreement with the recent conclusions of a review by Arisawa [72] on the associations of blood levels of dioxins with metabolic diseases, in which it was noticed that the blood levels of dioxins were decreasing, probably due to the reduction in the dietary intake of these pollutants.…”

“…Plasma concentrations levels of six PCDDs/Fs with 4-6 substituted chlorine atoms, but not HeptaCDD/F and OctaCDD, showed significant positive correlations with fish intake and plasma DHA concentrations in that Japanese population. Recently, Muzembo et al [42] assessed the correlation between dioxin dietary intake and corresponding body burden in the Japanese population. Blood and food samples were collected.…”

Worldwide Prevalence of Occupational Exposure to Needle Stick Injury among Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…A total of 10,233 healthcare workers were included in 18 studies, of which were conducted in 14 countries [ 16 , 25 – 41 ]: three articles [ 29 , 33 , 41 ] in Iran, two in Ethiopia [ 27 , 36 ], two in India [ 28 , 39 ], and one (5.55%) in other countries such as Nigeria [ 30 ], USA [ 25 ], China [ 31 ], Serbia [ 26 ], Saudi Arabia [ 32 ], Bangalore [ 34 ], Thailand [ 16 ], Australia [ 35 ], Bosnia and Herzegovina [ 37 ], Tanzania [ 38 ], and Switzerland [ 40 ].…”

“…Based on JBI Critical Appraisal tool, 15 (83.3%) of the included articles had a low risk of bias, while the remaining three had a medium risk of bias. The career time and previous one-year prevalence of NSIs among HCWs was in the range from 29.8% [ 32 ] to 100% [ 33 ] and from 9.7% [ 40 ] to 81.7% [ 33 ], respectively.…”

“…Among the included articles, 6 articles [ 26 – 30 , 33 ] reported both prevalence of NSIs in career time and previous one year, while 6 [ 25 , 31 , 32 , 36 , 37 , 41 ] and 6 [ 16 , 34 , 35 , 38 – 40 ] of articles reported career time alone and previous one-year prevalence of NSIs alone, respectively. Most ( 5 (83.3%)) of the included articles [ 16 , 26 – 34 , 36 – 39 , 41 ] were conducted in the developing countries, while the rest of the studies [ 25 , 35 , 40 ] were in a developed country ( Table 1 ).…”