Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Serum PCB concentrations in relation to locally produced food items in eastern Slovakia

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 18, pages 581–587 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Ingestion has been a primary route of PCB exposure for people, especially those not working directly in industrial settings. During 2002–2004, women were recruited at delivery from two districts in eastern Slovakia: Michalovce with high PCB contamination from a chemical manufacturing plant, and Svidnik located 70 km to the northwest, having lower environmental levels of PCBs. Concentrations of 15 PCB congeners were measured in maternal serum using high-resolution gas chromatography with electron capture detection. A food frequency questionnaire was developed and validated at the Research Institute of Nutrition and School of Medicine in Bratislava, Slovakia. The questionnaire was comprised of 88 food items representative of the national dietary habits and designed to ascertain (1) the source of food items as reported by the women (locally produced or purchased from a retail outlet) and (2) quantities consumed of high-fat food categories representative of the national dietary habits. Our primary goal was to identify specific food sources, either locally produced or purchased from retail stores, that might predict serum concentrations of PCBs. We used multiple linear regression to examine the relationship of dietary fats to lipid-adjusted serum PCB levels in 948 adult women (Michalovce N=662, Svidnik N=284) who had recently given birth. We adjusted for residential district, age, body mass index, education and duration of previous lactation. Consumption of fat from locally produced foods was significantly associated with higher levels of lipid-adjusted serum PCB (β=0.06, P=0.007). Fat from foods purchased in retail outlets showed no significant association (β=−0.02, P=0.36). There was no interaction between district and diet in predicting serum PCB levels. Comparing women in Michalovce consuming 20 g of fat per day from local sources with those consuming 1 g of fat per day from local sources, lipid-adjusted serum concentrations were predicted to be higher by 81 ng/g lipid or 14.8% 630 ng/g lipid versus 549 ng/g lipid.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akins J.R., Waldrep K., and Bernert Jr J.T. The estimation of total serum lipids by a completely enzymatic “summation” method. Clin Chim Acta 1989: 184(3): 219–226.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Babinska K.B., and Bederova A. Changes in nutrient intake in the adult population of the Slovak Republic. J Food Compost Anal 2002: 15(4): 359–365.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard A., Broeckaert F., De Poorter G., De Cock A., Hermans C., Saegerman C., et al. The Belgian PCB/dioxin incident: analysis of the food chain contamination and health risk evaluation. Environ Res 2002: 88(1): 1–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bjerregaard P., Dewailly E., Ayotte P., Pars T., Ferron L., and Mulvad G. Exposure of Inuit in Greenland to organochlorines through the marine diet. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2001: 62(2): 69–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • CDC. Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, 2005.

  • Chovancova J., Kocan A., and Jursa S. PCDDs, PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs in food of animal origin (Slovakia). Chemosphere 2005: 61(9): 1305–1311.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conka K., Drobna B., Kocan A., and Petrik J. Simple solid-phase extraction method for determination of polychlorinated biphenyls and selected organochlorine pesticides in human serum. J Chromatogr A 2005: 1084(1-2): 33–38.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deutch B., Pedersen H.S., and Hansen J.C. Dietary composition in Greenland 2000, plasma fatty acids and persistent organic pollutants. Sci Total Environ 2004: 331(1–3): 177–188.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Food Research Institute. Slovak Food Composition Bank, 2005.

  • Furberg A.S., Sandanger T., Thune I., Burkow I.C., and Lun E. Fish consumption and plasma levels of organochlorines in a female population in Northern Norway. J Environ Monit 2002: 4(1): 175–181.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn A., Aune M., Darnerud P.O., Cnattingius S., Bjerselius R., Becker W., et al. Determinants of serum concentrations of organochlorine compounds in Swedish pregnant women: a cross-sectional study. Environ Health 2007: 6: 2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James R.A., Hertz-Picciotto I., Willman E., Keller J.A., and Charles M.J. Determinants of serum polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides measured in women from the child health and development study cohort, 1963-1967. Environ Health Perspect 2002: 110(7): 617–624.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jan J.A., and Adamic M. Polychlorinated biphenyl residues in foods from a contaminated region of Yugoslavia. Food Addit Contam 1991: 8(4): 505–512.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen P., Muir D., Asmund G., and Riget F. Human exposure to contaminants in the traditional Greenland diet. Sci Total Environ 2004: 331(1–3): 189–206.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim M., Kim S., Yun S., Lee M., Cho B., Park J., et al. Comparison of seven indicator PCBs and three coplanar PCBs in beef, pork, and chicken fat. Chemosphere 2004: 54(10): 1533–1538.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kocan A., Petrik J., Drobna B., and Chovancova J. Levels of PCBs and some organochlorine pesticides in the human population of selected areas of the Slovak Republic. I. Blood. Chemosphere 1994: 29(9–11): 2315–2325.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kocan A., Petrik J., Jursa S., Chovancova J., and Drobna B. Environmental contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls in the area of their former manufacture in Slovakia. Chemosphere 2001: 43(4–7): 595–600.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Korrick S.A., Altshul L.M., Tolbert P.E., Burse V.W., Needham L.L., and Monson R.R. Measurement of PCBs, DDE, and hexachlorobenzene in cord blood from infants born in towns adjacent to a PCB-contaminated waste site. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2000: 10(6 Part 2): 743–754.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Longnecker M.P., Wolff M.S., Gladen B.C., Brock J.W., Grandjean P., Jacobson J.L., et al. Comparison of polychlorinated biphenyl levels across studies of human neurodevelopment. Environ Health Perspect 2003: 111(1): 65–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Carrillo L., Torres-Sanchez L., Moline J., Ireland K., and Wolff M.S. Breast-feeding and serum p,p'DDT levels among Mexican women of childbearing age: a pilot study. Environ Res 2001: 87(3): 131–135.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muckle G., Ayotte P., Dewailly E.E., Jacobson S.W., and Jacobson J.L. Prenatal exposure of the northern Quebec Inuit infants to environmental contaminants. Environ Health Perspect 2001: 109(12): 1291–1299.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Paris-Pombo A., Aronson K.J., Woolcott C.G., and King W.D. Dietary predictors of concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in breast adipose tissue of women living in Ontario, Canada. Arch Environ Health 2003: 58(1): 48–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Persky V., Turyk M., Anderson H.A., Hanrahan L.P., Falk C., Steenport D.N., et al. The effects of PCB exposure and fish consumption on endogenous hormones. Environ Health Perspect 2001: 109(12): 1275–1283.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Petrik J., Drobna B., Pavuk M., Jursa S., Wimmerova S., and Chovancova J. Serum PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in Slovakia: age, gender, and residence as determinants of organochlorine concentrations. Chemosphere 2006: 65(3): 410–418.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rylander L., Stromberg U., and Hagmar L. Decreased birthweight among infants born to women with a high dietary intake of fish contaminated with persistent organochlorine compounds. Scand J Work Environ Health 1995: 21(5): 368–375.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rylander L., Stromberg U., and Hagmar L. Dietary intake of fish contaminated with persistent organochlorine compounds in relation to low birthweight. Scand J Work Environ Health 1996: 22(4): 260–266.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SAS. SAS/STAT Software Version 9.1 Cary, NC, USA 2004.

  • Steuerwald U., Weihe P., Jorgensen P.J., Bjerve K., Brock J., Heinzow B., et al. Maternal seafood diet, methylmercury exposure, and neonatal neurologic function. J Pediatr 2000: 136(5): 599–605.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walkowiak J., Wiener J.A., Fastabend A., Heinzow B., Kramer U., Schmidt E., et al. Environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and quality of the home environment: effects on psychodevelopment in early childhood. Lancet 2001: 358(9293): 1602–1607.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weisskopf M.G., Anderson H.A., Hanrahan L.P., Kanarek M.S., Falk C.M., Steenport D.M., et al. Maternal exposure to Great Lakes sport-caught fish and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene, but not polychlorinated biphenyls, is associated with reduced birth weight. Environ Res 2005: 97(2): 149–162.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project has been funded by the following sources: NIH no. R01-CA96525, no. P01-ES11269, no. R01-ES015359 and EPA STAR Grant no. R829388, and no. RD-83154001, and no. UL1 RR024146 from the National Center for Research Resources. We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing assistance from our Scientific Advisory Board, including Dr. Michael Alavanja, Aake Bergman, Allen Silverstone, John Vena, Don Patterson and Gerhard Winneke.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA

    Dean Sonneborn, Hye-Youn Park & Irva Hertz-Picciotto

  2. Institute of Physiology, Comenius University, Faculty of Medicine, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Katarina Babinska

  3. Department of Environmental Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Lubica Palkovicova

  4. Department of Toxic Organic Pollutants, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Tomas Trnovec & Anton Kocan

  5. Division of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA

    Danh V Nguyen

Authors
  1. Dean Sonneborn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hye-Youn Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Katarina Babinska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lubica Palkovicova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tomas Trnovec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Anton Kocan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Danh V Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Irva Hertz-Picciotto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irva Hertz-Picciotto.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sonneborn, D., Park, HY., Babinska, K. et al. Serum PCB concentrations in relation to locally produced food items in eastern Slovakia. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 18, 581–587 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.1

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links