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Andreas Sjödin,¹ Lars Hagmar,² Eva Klasson-Wehler,^1,* Jonas Björk,² and Åke Bergman¹

¹Department of Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
²Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

Abstract

We examined the influence of widely varied consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea and of age on plasma concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) , polychlorobiphenylols (OH-PCBs) , 2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) -1,1,1-trichloroethane (4,4´-DDT) , 2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) -1,1-dichloroethane (4,4´-DDE) , 2,2´,4,4´-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) , hexachlorobenzene (HCB) , and pentachlorophenol (PCP) in Latvian and Swedish men. Both age and fish consumption were significantly correlated with the concentrations of PCB, OH-PCB, 4,4´-DDE, 4,4´-DDT, and HCB. In the case of BDE-47, no significant relationship with age was observed, and fish consumption had the largest relative effect on plasma concentrations of this contaminant. This relationship may be a result of exposure to BDE-47 having been more recent than that of PCBs and DDE, or because the half-life of BDE-47 may be shorter than that of PCB and DDE. Latvian men demonstrated higher plasma levels of DDE and DDT but lower levels of PCB and PCP than did Swedish men. The corresponding levels of HCB and BDE-47 were similar in both countries. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient obtained by comparing the level of the metabolite 4-hydroxy-2,3,3´,4´,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (4-OH-CB107) to the combined levels of its parent compounds, 2,3,3´,4,4´-pentachlorobiphenyl (CB-105) and 2,3´,4,4´,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (CB-118) , was higher than the median correlation coefficient obtained upon comparing the level of this metabolite to all other possible combinations of two PCB levels. No other increased correlation between metabolite and parent PCB concentration was observed. Key words: endocrine disruptors, fish consumption, hexachlorobenzene, pentachlorophenol, polychlorobiphenylols, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, thyroid hormone. Environ Health Perspect 108:1035-1041 (2000) . [Online 10 October 2000]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p1035-1041sjodin/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to Å. Bergman, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Wallenberg Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Telephone: +46-8-16 39 14. Fax: +46-8-15 25 61. E-Mail: anita.hjelm@mk.su.se

*E. Klasson-Wehler is currently at AstraZeneca R&D Södertälje, SE-151 85 Södertälje, Sweden.

We thank I. Athanasiadis for mass spectrometry analyses and M. Kajanus, A. Nilsson, A. Schütz, and A.J. Schütz for recruiting volunteers and collecting blood samples.

Financial support was provided by the European Union Environment and Climate Program (ENV4-CT96-0170) , the Swedish Medical Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, and the Medical Faculty at Lund University.

Received 20 March 2000 ; accepted 29 June 2000.