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Demographics and Sociobehavioral Data
Health Effects
Over the last 3 years, ATSDR and EPA collaborated to keep critical agencies informed about PCBs and fish consumption. The technical paper Public Health Implications of PCB Exposures (ATSDR) was distributed to state and tribal health and environmental agencies who develop and issue local health advisories. An update of the paper is available at www.epa.gov/ost/fish.
In addition, EPA and ATSDR
developed a brochure on the health risks associated with exposure
to PCBs. The brochure, Should I Eat the Fish I Catch? A Guide
to Healthy Eating of the Fish You Catch, contained advice and
recommendations for reducing health risks associated with exposures
to PCBs through eating contaminated fish. The brochure was sent to
health care providers who primarily served the more susceptible target
populations of women and children. It is available in several languages
and can be ordered by calling 1-800-490-9198.
Information about how to prepare fish and which fish are safe to eat
was also distributed to health care provider groups. Exhibits included
take-home educational materials to provide information and raise awareness
of the fish consumption issue in the minds of health care providers
and their patients.
For more information on the latest activities and for links to all
advisory programs in the United States, go to www.epa.gov/ost/fish.
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Download free interactive software on environmental topics from the SEAHOME Web site. These programs are produced by Purdue University in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. |
Immune effects
Neurologic effects
Endocrine effects
Reproductive effects
Other effects
PCBs
cause numerous adverse health effects. PCBs induce liver cancer in animals
and noncancerous effects on their immune, central nervous, endocrine,
and reproductive systems. Some of the human studies are inconclusive
because they fail to show a link between PCBs exposure and diseases.
This is largely because epidemiologic studies have limitations that
affect their ability to find health effects. These limitations include
the small number of persons involved in a study (making it hard to discern
a pattern), difficulty in determining actual exposure levels, and multiple
confounding factors (e.g., smoking, drinking, and exposure to other
contaminants). However, this does not mean that PCBs are safe. In fact,
studies in humans suggest that PCBs have both carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic
health effects. Therefore, EPA classifies PCBs as probable human carcinogens
of medium carcinogenic hazard.
PCBs have a long life and tend to accumulate in humans. All people in
the industrialized world have PCBs in their bodies. People are exposed
to PCBs primarily through eating contaminated foods, especially fish,
meat, and poultry, and through inhalation. However, studies show that
the levels of PCBs in humans have been decreasing steadily over the
years.
The composition of PCB mixtures changes when they are released into
the environment. The most carcinogenic components of PCBs mixtures bioaccumulate
in fish and other animals and bind to sediments. In fact, the build-up
of PCBs in fish can reach levels thousands of times higher than the
level of PCBs in water. This means that eating PCB-contaminated fish
or other animal products or coming into contact with PCB-contaminated
sediments is more harmful than being exposed to PCBs through occupational
exposure or through PCB releases into the environment.
Acute oral exposures of animals to PCBs are associated with damage
to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. For humans, chronic
(long-term) oral exposure to PCBs is associated with cardiovascular
effects (hypertension), mild liver effects, and skin effects (acne and
pigmentation). Chronic human exposure to PCBs through inhalation produces
respiratory tract symptoms (cough and tightness in the chest), gastrointestinal
effects (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, weight loss, and anorexia),
mild liver effects, skin rashes, and eye irritation.
Numerous health studies have focused on the carcinogenic effects of
PCBs, and have concluded that PCBs cause liver cancer in animals. Studies
of workers occupationally exposed to PCBs indicate increased rates of
a rare liver cancer and malignant melanoma. Studies confirming the presence
of liver cancer in both humans and animals exposed to PCBs lead to the
conclusion that PCBs are probable human carcinogens.
In animals, PCBs also cause a variety of noncancerous effects on the
immune, central nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems, and humans
could likewise be affected. Following is a synopsis of the noncancerous
health effects of PCBs.
The effects of PCBs on the male reproductive system remain inconclusive. One study of men occupationally exposed to PCBs indicated no fertility problems, while another showed an association between low sperm count and high levels of PCBs in blood.
PCBs cause a number of serious health effects. They induce cancer and
other noncancerous health effects in animals, affecting their immune,
central nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems. Studies in humans,
although inconclusive, tend to support the same evidence. Human health
studies indicate that PCBs (a) affect women's reproductive functions;
(b) reach fetuses and newborns through the placenta and breastfeeding;
(c) create neurobehavioral and developmental deficits in newborns and
children exposed to PCBs in utero; (d) decrease thyroid hormone levels;
(e) weaken the immune system, (f) increase cancer risks, such as liver
and non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and (g) produce a number of other negative
health effects.
* This information on health effects was compiled from current research on PCBs. Sources include the ATSDR Web site (www.atsdr.cdc.gov), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site (www.epa.gov), and www.about.com.
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This page last updated on
April 17, 2002
Contact Name: Wilma López/ WLópez@cdc.gov