title: Health Effects of PCBs in Residences and Schools (HESPERUS): PCB - health Cohort Profile.
abstract: Polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCBs) were introduced in the late 1920s and used until the 1970s when they were banned in most countries due to evidence of environmental build-up and possible adverse health effects. However they still persist in the environment, indoors and in humans. Indoor air in contaminated buildings may confer airborne exposure markedly above background regional PCB levels. To date, no epidemiological studies have assessed the health effects from exposure to semi-volatile PCBs in the indoor environment. Indoor air PCBs are generally less chlorinated than PCBs that are absorbed via the diet, or via past occupational exposure; therefore their health effects require separate risk assessment. Two separate cohorts of individuals who have either attended schools (n = 66,769; 26% exposed) or lived in apartment buildings (n = 37,185; 19% exposed), where indoor air PCB concentrations have been measured were created. An individual estimate of long-term airborne PCB exposure was assigned based on measurements. The cohorts will be linked to eight different national data sources on mortality, school records, residential history, socioeconomic status, and chronic disease and reproductive outcomes. The linking of indoor air exposures with health outcomes provides a dataset unprecedented worldwide. We describe a project, called HESPERUS (Health Effects of PCBs in Residences and Schools), which will be the first study of the long term health effects of the lower-chlorinated, semi-volatile PCBs in the indoor environment.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Prevention and Health, Center of Health, Capital region of Denmark, Rigshospital - Glostrup, Copenhagen University, Denmark.|Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg - Frederiksberg Hospital, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Elvira Vaclavik
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Bräuner
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Center for Epidemiology and Screening, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Zorana Jovanovic
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy, Environment and Indoor Climate, Danish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frederiksen
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg - Frederiksberg Hospital, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ina Olmer
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Specht
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Karin Sørig
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Hougaard
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg - Frederiksberg Hospital, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ebbehøj
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction, Université Laval, Canada.
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Molecular Reproductive Medicine, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giwercman
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steenland
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH/DHHS, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew Paul
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Longnecker
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg - Frederiksberg Hospital, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jens Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bonde
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012574:Schools
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls