Rudel Ruthann A, Seryak Liesel M, Brody Julia G
Silent Spring Institute, 29 Crafts Street, Newton, MA 02458, USA.
Environ Health. 2008 Jan 17;7:2. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-7-2.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent pollutants identified worldwide as human blood and breast milk contaminants. Because they bioaccumulate, consumption of meat, fish, and dairy products predicts human blood concentrations. PCBs were also used widely in building materials, including caulks and paints, but few studies have evaluated the contribution of these exposures to body burden.
In an earlier study, we detected PCBs in indoor air in 31% of 120 homes on Cape Cod, MA. Two of the homes had much higher concentrations than the rest, so we retested to verify the initial finding, evaluate blood PCB concentrations of residents, and identify the PCB source.
Air and dust concentrations remained elevated over 5 years between initial and follow-up sampling. Blood serum concentrations of PCBs in residents of the homes were generally elevated above the 95th percentile of a representative sample of the US population. Serum concentrations in residents and air and dust concentrations were especially high in a home where a resident reported use of PCB-containing floor finish in the past, and where the floor of one room was sanded and refinished just prior to sample collection.
This case-study suggests that PCB residues in homes may be more significant contributors to overall exposure than diet for some people, and that use of a commercially-available PCB-containing wood floor finish in residences during the 1950s and 1960s is an overlooked but potentially important source of current PCB exposure in the general population.
多氯联苯（PCBs）是一种持久性污染物，在全球范围内被确认为人体血液和母乳中的污染物。由于它们会生物累积，食用肉类、鱼类和奶制品可预测人体血液中的浓度。多氯联苯还广泛用于建筑材料，包括填缝料和涂料，但很少有研究评估这些接触源对人体负担的影响。
在一项早期研究中，我们在马萨诸塞州科德角120所房屋中的31%检测到室内空气中含有多氯联苯。其中两所房屋的浓度比其他房屋高得多，因此我们重新进行检测以验证最初的发现，评估居民血液中的多氯联苯浓度，并确定多氯联苯的来源。
在初始采样和后续采样的5年期间，空气和灰尘中的浓度一直居高不下。这些房屋居民血清中的多氯联苯浓度普遍高于美国代表性样本的第95百分位数。在一名居民报告过去使用过含多氯联苯地板漆的房屋中，居民的血清浓度以及空气和灰尘浓度尤其高，而且在采样前一个房间的地板刚刚进行了打磨和重新上漆。
本案例研究表明，对于某些人来说，家庭中的多氯联苯残留可能比饮食对总体接触的影响更大，并且在20世纪50年代和60年代住宅中使用市售含多氯联苯的木地板漆是普通人群当前多氯联苯接触的一个被忽视但潜在的重要来源。
