Koppen G, Covaci A, Van Cleuvenbergen R, Schepens P, Winneke G, Nelen V, van Larebeke N, Vlietinck R, Schoeters G
Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO), Center of Expertise in Environmental Toxicology and Environmental Measurements, Mol, Belgium.
Chemosphere. 2002 Sep;48(8):811-25. doi: 10.1016/s0045-6535(02)00111-x.
In 1999, a campaign of the Flemish Ministry of Health, Belgium was set up to assess pollutant concentrations and related health effect biomarkers in humans living in two regions of Flanders. The study was called the 'Flemish Environment and Health Study' (FLEHS). One of the goals was to measure present concentrations of persistent organochlorine pollutants in a Flemish population and to compare values obtained from pooled and individual serum samples. Concentrations of selected organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and furans (PCDF) were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. TEQ values were also assessed by Chemical-Activated LUciferase gene eXpression (CALUX) bioassay. The study population consisted of 200 women between 50 and 65 years living in two areas of Flanders, Belgium. Because of the large volumes serum needed for all measurements, the concentrations of organochlorines were measured in 47 pooled serum samples originating from these women. The concentrations of the indicator PCBs (359.8 ng/g fat) and organochlorine pesticides (hexachlorobenzene, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane, lindane and pentachlorophenol), were comparable to those found in other European countries. The concentrations of PCDD/PCDFs showed another picture. With a median value of 48 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat, the women had 2-fold higher levels than a comparable age group from Germany examined in 1996. The mean total WHO-TEQ including PCDD/F, non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs was 72.7 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat, whereas the CALUX-TEQ mean value was only 35.0 pg TEQ/g fat. In order to assess the pooling procedure, indicator PCBs and CALUX-TEQs were measured in all 200 individuals that were integrated in the pools. The measured values were comparable to the pool results: 390.0 ng/g fat and 41.6 pg TEQ/g fat respectively. It was concluded that pooling of serum samples offers the possibility to measure exposure in the whole study population on a more cost-effective way. However, because of statistical power loss and no possibility of confounder adjustment, pooling is not the most effective way to study regional differences.
1999年，比利时弗拉芒大区卫生部发起了一项活动，旨在评估居住在弗拉芒两个地区的人群中的污染物浓度及相关健康效应生物标志物。该研究被称为“弗拉芒环境与健康研究”（FLEHS）。目标之一是测量弗拉芒人群中持久性有机氯污染物的当前浓度，并比较从混合血清样本和个体血清样本中获得的值。通过气相色谱 - 质谱法测量选定的有机氯农药、多氯联苯（PCB）以及多氯二苯并 - p - 二恶英（PCDD）和多氯二苯并呋喃（PCDF）的浓度。还通过化学激活荧光素酶基因表达（CALUX）生物测定法评估毒性当量（TEQ）值。研究人群包括200名年龄在50至65岁之间、居住在比利时弗拉芒两个地区的女性。由于所有测量需要大量血清，因此对源自这些女性的47个混合血清样本中的有机氯浓度进行了测量。指示性多氯联苯（359.8纳克/克脂肪）和有机氯农药（六氯苯、p,p'-二氯二苯二氯乙烯、p,p'-二氯二苯三氯乙烷、林丹和五氯苯酚）的浓度与其他欧洲国家的浓度相当。多氯二苯并二恶英/多氯二苯并呋喃的浓度则呈现出不同的情况。这些女性的中位值为48皮克WHO - TEQ/克脂肪，比1996年检测过的德国同年龄组高出两倍。包括多氯二苯并二恶英/多氯二苯并呋喃、非邻位和单邻位多氯联苯在内的WHO总TEQ平均值为72.7皮克WHO - TEQ/克脂肪，而CALUX - TEQ平均值仅为35.0皮克TEQ/克脂肪。为了评估混合程序，对纳入混合样本的所有200名个体测量了指示性多氯联苯和CALUX - TEQ。测量值与混合样本结果相当，分别为390.0纳克/克脂肪和41.6皮克TEQ/克脂肪。得出的结论是，血清样本混合提供了一种更具成本效益的方式来测量整个研究人群的暴露情况。然而，由于统计功效损失以及无法进行混杂因素调整，混合并不是研究区域差异的最有效方法。
