Serum PCB concentrations in relation to locally produced food items in eastern Slovakia

Abstract

Ingestion has been a primary route of PCB exposure for people, especially those not working directly in industrial settings. During 2002During -2004 were recruited at delivery from two districts in eastern Slovakia: Michalovce with high PCB contamination from a chemical manufacturing plant, and Svidnik located 70 km to the northwest, having lower environmental levels of PCBs. Concentrations of 15 PCB congeners were measured in maternal serum using high-resolution gas chromatography with electron capture detection. A food frequency questionnaire was developed and validated at the Research Institute of Nutrition and School of Medicine in Bratislava, Slovakia. The questionnaire was comprised of 88 food items representative of the national dietary habits and designed to ascertain (1) the source of food items as reported by the women (locally produced or purchased from a retail outlet) and (2) quantities consumed of high-fat food categories representative of the national dietary habits. Our primary goal was to identify specific food sources, either locally produced or purchased from retail stores, that might predict serum concentrations of PCBs. We used multiple linear regression to examine the relationship of dietary fats to lipid-adjusted serum PCB levels in 948 adult women (Michalovce N ¼ 662, Svidnik N ¼ 284) who had recently given birth. We adjusted for residential district, age, body mass index, education and duration of previous lactation. Consumption of fat from locally produced foods was significantly associated with higher levels of lipid-adjusted serum PCB (b ¼ 0.06, P ¼ 0.007). Fat from foods purchased in retail outlets showed no significant association (b ¼ À0.02, P ¼ 0.36). There was no interaction between district and diet in predicting serum PCB levels. Comparing women in Michalovce consuming 20 g of fat per day from local sources with those consuming 1 g of fat per day from local sources, lipidadjusted serum concentrations were predicted to be higher by 81 ng/g lipid or 14.8% 630 ng/g lipid versus 549 ng/g lipid.

Dynamics of lymphocyte subsets in children living in an area polluted by polychlorinated biphenyls

“…The PCB levels in maternal blood in Michalovce were ≈ 2-fold higher than in mothers in Svidnik. The mean and median maternal serum levels of the sum of six PCBs (∑ PCB ) were 7.5 and 5.3 ng/ ml (718.5 and 531.3 ng/g lipid) in Michalovce and 3.6 and 2.6 ng/ml (373.7 and 269.5 ng/g lipid) in Svidnik/ Stropkov (Sonneborn et al, 2008). Similarly, the levels of hydroxylated-PCB (OH-PCB) metabolites were about twice as high in Michalovce mothers than those of Svidnik/Stropkov mothers.…”

Status of LEPR Gene in PCB-exposed Population: A Quick Look

“…Several surveys in eastern Slovakia found high levels of PCBs and dioxins in the locally produced food (Chovancova et al 2005; Sonneborn et al 2008). In the late 1980’s, concentrations in breast milk in the Michalovce district averaged 4.0–4.4 mg/kg lipids (Hertzman 1995).…”

The kinetics of cell surface receptor expression in children perinatally exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls

“…The PCB levels in maternal blood in Michalovce were ≈2-fold higher than in mothers in Svidnik/Stropkov. The mean maternal serum levels of the sum of six PCBs (∑ PCB ) were 7.5 and (718.5 ng/g lipid) in Michalovce and 3.6 ng/ml (373.7 ng/g lipid) in Svidnik/Stropkov (Sonneborn et al, 2008). Descriptive data for the PCB concentrations in maternal, cord, and infant serum was reported previously (Jusko et al, 2010(Jusko et al, , 2011 …”