title: Inter-population variations in concentrations, determinants of and correlations between 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE): a cross-sectional study of 3161 men and women from Inuit and European populations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study is part of a collaborative project (Inuendo), aiming to assess the impact of dietary persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) on human fertility. The aims with the present study are to analyze inter-population variations in serum concentrations of 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE), to assess inter-population variations in biomarker correlations, and to evaluate the relative impact of different determinants for the inter-individual variations in POP-biomarkers.
  
  
  METHODS
  In study populations of 3161 adults, comprising Greenlandic Inuits, Swedish fishermen and their wives, and inhabitants from Warsaw, Poland and Kharkiv, Ukraine, serum concentrations of CB-153 and p,p'-DDE, were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median serum concentrations of CB-153 were for male and female Inuits 200 and 110, for Swedish fishermen 190 and their wives 84, for Kharkiv men and women 44 and 27, and for Warsaw men and women 17 and 11 ng/g lipids, respectively. The median serum concentrations of p,p'-DDE were for Kharkiv men and women 930 and 650, for male and female Inuits 560 and 300, for Warsaw men and women 530 and 380, and for Swedish fishermen 240 and their wives 140 ng/g lipids, respectively. The correlation coefficients between CB-153 and p,p'-DDE varied between 0.19 and 0.92, with the highest correlation among Inuits and the lowest among men from Warsaw. Men had averagely higher serum concentrations of CB-153 and p,p'-DDE, and there were positive associations between age and the POP-biomarkers, whereas the associations with BMI and smoking were inconsistent. Dietary seafood was of importance only in the Inuit and Swedish populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CB-153 concentrations were much higher in Inuits and Swedish fishermen's populations than in the populations from Eastern Europe, whereas the pattern was different for p,p'-DDE showing highest concentrations in the Kharkiv population. The correlations between the POP-biomarkers varied considerably between the populations, underlining that exposure sources differ and that the choice of representative biomarkers of overall POP exposure has to be based on an analysis of the specific exposure situation for each population. Age and gender were consistent determinants of serum POPs; seafood was of importance only in the Inuit and Swedish populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University Hospital, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden. bo_a.jonsson@med.lu.se
authors.forename: Bo A G
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Jönsson
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rylander
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindh
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rignell-Hydbom
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giwercman
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Toft
authors.forename: Henning S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ludwicki
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Góralczyk
authors.forename: Valentyna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zvyezday
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spanò
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bizzaro
authors.forename: Eva C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Bonefeld-Jörgensen
authors.forename: Gian Carlo
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Manicardi
authors.forename: Jens Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bonde
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagmar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity; D004703:Endocrine System / Q000187:drug effects; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects*; D020387:Food Chain; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006116:Greenland; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D004930:Inuit / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity; D017747:Seafood; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects*; D013548:Sweden; D014455:Ukraine; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls