Temporal variability of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) serum concentrations over one year.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardant chemicals used in consumer products. They are common contaminants in human serum and associated with adverse health effects. Our objectives were to characterize PBDE serum concentrations in a New England cohort and assess temporal variability of this exposure biomarker over a one-year period. We collected three repeated measurements at six-month intervals from 52 office workers from the greater Boston (MA, United States) area from 2010 to 2011. The intraclass correlation coefficient for BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100, and 153 ranged from 0.87 to 0.99, indicating that a single serum measurement can reliably estimate exposure over a one-year period. This was true for both lipid adjusted and nonlipid adjusted concentrations. The kappa statistics, quantifying the level of agreement of categorical exposure classification, based on medians, tertiles, or quartiles ranged from 0.67 to 0.90. Some congeners showed nonsignificant increases from sampling round 1 (winter) to round 2 (summer) and significant decreases from round 2 to round 3 (winter). This study highlights the high reliability of a single serum PBDE measurement for use in human epidemiologic studies.
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health , 715 Albany Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States.
Colleen M
CM
Makey
Michael D
MD
McClean
Andreas
A
Sjödin
Janice
J
Weinberg
Courtney C
CC
Carignan
Thomas F
TF
Webster
D000328:Adult; D001900:Boston; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009511:New England; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult
D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers