East Chicago, Indiana is a heavily-industrialized community bisected by the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, which volatilizes ~7.5 kg/yr polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In contrast, the rural Columbus Junction, Iowa area has no known current or past PCB industrial sources. Blood from children and their mothers from these communities was collected April 2008-January 2009 (n=177). Sera were analyzed for all 209 PCBs and 4 hydroxylated PCBs (OH-PCBs). We detected all four OH-PCBs and 92 PCBs, including PCBs 11 and 83, which to our knowledge have not been previously reported in human blood. Sum PCBs ranged from non-detect to 658 ng/g lw (median = 33.5 ng/g lw). Sum OH-PCBs ranged from non-detect to 1.2 ng/g fw (median = 0.07 ng/g fw). These concentrations are similar to those reported in other populations without high dietary PCB intake. Differences between the two communities were subtle. PCBs were detected in more East Chicago mothers and children than Columbus Junction mothers and children, and children from East Chicago were enriched in lower-molecular weight PCBs. East Chicago and Columbus Junction residents had similar levels of total and individual PCBs and OH-PCBs in their blood. Concentrations of parent PCBs correlated with concentrations of OH-PCBs. This is the first temporally- and methodologically-consistent study to evaluate all 209 PCBs and major metabolites in two generations of people living in urban and rural areas of the United States. Figure 1. <img src='https://acs-archive-assets2.s3.amazonaws.com/239nm/uploads/4581_acsposter_2_figure.jpg' alt='' />

PCBs and OH-PCBs in serum from children and mothers in urban and rural U.S. communities

246th National Meeting (2013)

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