Predictors of serum dioxins and PCBs among peripubertal Russian boys.
BACKGROUND
Although sources and routes of exposure to dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been studied, information regarding exposure among children is limited. Breast-feeding and diet are two important contributors to early life exposure. To further understand other significant contributors to childhood exposure, we studied a cohort of children from a city with high environmental dioxin levels.


OBJECTIVE
We investigated predictors of serum concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs)/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)/co-planar PCBs (C-PCBs), toxic equivalents (TEQs), and PCBs among 8- to 9-year-old boys in Chapaevsk, Russia.


METHODS
We used general linear regression models to explore associations of log(10)-transformed serum concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs/C-PCBs, TEQs, and PCBs at study entry with anthropometric, demographic, geographic, and dietary factors in 482 boys in Chapaevsk, Russia.


RESULTS
The median (25th, 75th percentile) concentration for total 2005 TEQs was 21.1 pg/g lipid (14.4, 33.2). Boys who were older, consumed local foods, were breast-fed longer, and whose mothers were employed at the Khimprom chemical plant (where chlorinated chemicals were produced) or gardened locally had significantly higher serum dioxins and PCBs, whereas boys with higher body mass index or more educated parents had significantly lower serum dioxins and PCBs. Boys who lived < 2 km from Khimprom had higher total TEQs (picograms per gram lipid) [adjusted mean = 30.6; 95% confidence interval (CI), 26.8-35.0] than boys who lived > 5 km away (adjusted mean = 18.8; 95% CI, 17.2-20.6).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that there are specific local sources of dioxin and PCB exposure among children in Chapaevsk including maternal gardening, consumption of locally grown food, and residential proximity to the Khimprom plant.
Burns
Jane S
JS
Environmental and Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology Program, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. jburns@hsph.harvard.edu
Williams
Paige L
PL
Sergeyev
Oleg
O
Korrick
Susan
S
Lee
Mary M
MM
Revich
Boris
B
Altshul
Larisa
L
Patterson
Donald G
DG
Turner
Wayman E
WE
Needham
Larry L
LL
Saharov
Igor
I
Hauser
Russ
R
D001572:Benzofurans / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004147:Dioxins / Q000097:blood*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D011627:Puberty; D012307:Risk Factors; D012426:Russia
D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004147:Dioxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls