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RACE AND UNEQUAL EXPOSURE TO POLYCHLORINATED COMPOUNDS - THE ROLE OF DIET
Citation:
Birnbaum, L S. RACE AND UNEQUAL EXPOSURE TO POLYCHLORINATED COMPOUNDS - THE ROLE OF DIET. Presented at American Public Health Association (APHA), Washington, D.C, November 6-10, 2004.
Description:
Max Weintraub, MS, Toxics Office, US Environmental Protection Agency, 75 Hawthorne Street, Mail Code CMD-4, San Francisco, CA 94105 and Linda S. Birnbaum, PhD, Experimental Toxicology Division, NHEERL, US EPA, 66 USEPA Mailroom, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
The Centers for Disease Control in 2003 established a national baseline of exposure to forty polychlorinated compounds including PCBs and dioxin. None of the compounds were found above the detection limit in more than half the members of the racial groups examined (i.e., Mexican-American, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White). However, at the 95th percentile, nineteen of the compounds were present. The highest levels for each of the nineteen compounds were found in non-Hispanic Blacks.
This presentation will identify: a) the possible sources of exposure to polychlorinated compounds b) the likely role of animal fat as the primary source of exposure contributing to higher levels of polychlorinated compounds in a subpopulation of non-Hispanic Blacks relative to other racial groups; c) the underlying factors (e.g., poverty, subsistence angling, etc.) that result in such a diet for a subpopulation of non-Hispanic Blacks; and d) actions EPA is taking, and can take, to minimize greater exposure to persistent and bioaccumulative polychlorinated compounds in a subpopulation of non-Hispanic Blacks. Finally, using the EPA action model, we will recommend approaches other agencies can take to minimize exposure to polychlorinated persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic compounds among populations at-risk for exposure.
(This abstract does not reflect US EPA policy.)