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POLIBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS: A CASE STUDY FOR APPLICATION OF BIOMONITORING DATA TO CHARACTERIZE EXPOSURE
Citation:
BIRNBAUM, L. S. AND E. A. COHEN-HUBAL. POLIBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS: A CASE STUDY FOR APPLICATION OF BIOMONITORING DATA TO CHARACTERIZE EXPOSURE. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC, 114(11):1770-1775, (2006).
Impact/Purpose:
To help use biomonitoring data on PBDEs to characterize exposure.
Description:
The presence and steady increase in environmental and human concentrations of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) has heightened interest in the potential toxicological consequences of these chemicals. Currently available data on exposure, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and biomarker levels are limited. However, new data are rapidly emerging in all of these areas. Dietary ingestion is thought to be the primary route of exposure, with recent studies indicating the potential for inhalation to be significant. Recent estimates for terminal half-lives in humans for lower brominated PBDEs are on the order of 2-3 years. Toxicity of PBDEs in humans is not known. However, based on studies in rodents, there is concern for the potential of several congeners as developmental neurotoxicants. Because of their persistence and tendency to bioaccumulate, measurement of BDE congeners in biological specimens is a good marker of exposure. Several studies have demonstrated that PBDEs partition into body lipids. Similar results are obtained from blood, serum, cord blood, breast milk, and adipose tissue if measurements are normalized to lipid. Recent studies have demonstrated that PBDE congeners have been detected in all of the people measured in North America, where levels are approximately ten times higher than in Europe or Asia. The data are relatively limited; however, there appears to be much greater variability (approximately a 100-fold range) in the lipid-adjusted levels compared to those observed for other persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Limited European data indicate that young children may have significantly higher BDE levels than adults. Biomonitoring data are needed in potentially vulnerable populations, especially children