► We studied pregnancy-related changes of PCBs, hydroxylated PCB, and PCP in blood. ► The results suggest a dilution of PCB and OH-PCB during pregnancy. ► Among some women OH-PCB levels increased at ...the end of pregnancy. ► Strong positive intra-individual correlations were only seen for PCBs. ► PCB body burdens during pregnancy can be assessed from a single short sampling period. ► OH-PCB and PCP analyses should be done during the exposure window of interest.
We studied pregnancy-related changes in serum concentrations of five polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, CB 118, CB 138, CB 153, CB 156, CB 180), three hydroxylated PCB metabolites (4-OH-CB107, 4-OH-CB146, 4-OH-CB187), and pentachlorophenol (PCP). Median serum lipid content increased 2-fold between early (weeks 9–13) and late pregnancy (weeks 35–36) (
N
=
10), whereas median PCB levels in serum lipids decreased 20–46%, suggesting a dilution of PCB concentrations in serum lipids. Nevertheless, strong positive intra-individual correlations (Spearman’s
r
=
0.61–0.99) were seen for PCBs during the whole study period. Thus, if samples have been collected within the same relative narrow time window during pregnancy, PCB results from one single sampling occasion can be used in assessment of relative differences in body burdens during the whole pregnancy period. Concentrations of OH-PCBs in blood serum tended to decline as pregnancy progressed, although among some women the concentrations increased at the end of pregnancy. Positive intra-individual correlations (
r
=
0.66–0.99) between OH-PCB concentrations were observed during the first and second trimester, whereas correlations with third trimester concentrations were more diverging (
r
=
−0.70–0.85). No decline in PCP concentrations was observed during pregnancy and no significant correlations were found between concentrations at different sampling periods. Our results suggest that for both OH-PCBs and PCP, sampling has to be more specifically timed depending on the time period during pregnancy that is of interest. The differences in patterns of intra- and inter-individual variability of the studied compounds may be due to a combination of factors, including lipid solubility, persistence of the compounds, distribution in blood, metabolic formation, and pregnancy-related changes in body composition and physiological processes.
We performed a cross-sectional study of associations between personal characteristics and lipid-adjusted serum concentrations of certain PCB congeners and chlorinated pesticides/metabolites among 323 ...pregnant primiparous women from Uppsala County (age 18-41 years) sampled 1996-1999.
Extensive personal interviews and questionnaires about personal characteristics were performed both during and after pregnancy. Concentrations of organochlorine compounds in serum lipids in late pregnancy were analysed by gas chromatography. Associations between personal characteristics and serum levels of organochlorine compounds were analysed by multiple linear regression.
Participation rate was 82% (325 of 395 women). Serum concentrations of PCB congeners IUPAC no. 28, 52, 101, 105 and 167, and o, p'-DDT and -DDE, p, p'-DDT and -DDD, oxychlordane, and gamma- and alpha-HCH were in many cases below the limit of quantification (LOQ). No statistical analysis of associations with personal characteristics could be performed for these substances. Concentrations of PCB congeners IUPAC no. 118, 138, 153, 156 and 180, HCB, beta-HCH, trans-nonachlor and p, p'-DDE increased with increased age and were highest in women sampled early during the 4 year study period. This shows that older women and women sampled early in the study had experienced the highest life-time exposure levels, probably mainly during childhood and adolescence. The importance of early exposures was supported by lower PCB concentrations and higher beta-HCH and p, p'-DDE concentrations among women born in non-Nordic countries. Moreover, serum concentrations of certain PCBs and pesticide/metabolites were positively associated with consumption of fatty fish during adolescence, and concentrations of CB 156, CB 180 and p, p'-DDE increased significantly with number of months women had been breast-fed during infancy. Short-term changes in bodily constitution may, however, also influence serum concentrations, as suggested by negative associations between concentrations of organochlorine compounds and BMI before pregnancy and weight change during pregnancy.
Although some of the associations could be caused by unknown personal characteristics confounding the results, our findings suggest that exposures to organochlorine compounds during childhood and adolescence influence the body burdens of the compounds during pregnancy.
We studied associations between lifestyle/medical factors and lipid-adjusted serum concentrations of seven polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and five chlorinated pesticides/metabolites among ...205 Swedish women (54-75 years old). Serum concentrations were significantly associated with age, body mass index, body weight change, diabetes mellitus, consumption of fatty fish, and place of residence. The findings suggest that lifestyle/medical factors may confound results in epidemiologic studies when they are related to both serum concentrations and disease. Moreover, disease itself may influence serum concentrations of some organochlorines, as indicated by the negative associations between recent weight change and serum concentrations of some PCB congeners, p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and the positive association between diabetes mellitus and HCB concentrations. Age was the only determinant that showed a consistent association with all compounds studied (positive); otherwise associations with single determinants varied among compounds even within the PCB group. This shows that the studied organochlorines should not be treated as a homogeneous group of compounds in epidemiologic studies.
The breast milk concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs; sum of five congeners: BDE-47, -99, -100, -153, and -154) were determined (by GC-ECD) in samples from 93 primiparous women ...collected from 1996 to 1999 in Uppsala County, Sweden. Dietary and lifestyle factors were also recorded. The mean PBDE concentration was 4.0
ng/g fat and the distribution of samples was skewed with few high values (maximum 28.2
ng/g fat). BDE-47 was the major congener and constituted 59% of the mean concentration of PBDEs. No significant relationship was found between breast milk concentrations of PBDEs and dietary intake of PBDE, age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, or computer usage. After adjustments for these factors, a weak but significant association between PBDE concentrations and smoking was observed. The dietary intake of PBDE for these women was estimated at 27
ng/day, of which fish contributed almost half. After inclusion of 31 additional samples, collected from 2000 to 2001, time trends were studied. The changes in breast milk PBDE levels between 1996 and 2001, similar to the results from another Swedish study on milk from Stockholm mothers, suggest a peak in PBDE concentrations around 1998 and thereafter decreasing levels. However, far-reaching conclusions about PBDE time trends in milk cannot be drawn from this short study.
Mature male goldfish were exposed to different concentrations of the natural hormone 17β-estradiol (E
2). Two methods of exposure were employed, via ingestion at 0, 1, 10 and 100 μg/g food and via ...the water at 0, 1 and 10 μg/l. The fish were exposed for 24–28 days during the spawning period. The males were then paired with an artificially induced, spawning female and their sexual behaviour was observed during a 15 min period. The physiological status of the fish was also examined with respect to GSI, presence of milt and spawning tubercles and the blood plasma concentration of E
2. Despite the relatively short exposure period, exposure to physiological levels of E
2 was shown to severely affect the male goldfish reproductive behaviour and physiology. In conclusion, the results from this study and the ability to interpret the effects on this well-studied species, show that the effects of E
2, and possibly other estrogenic EDCs, have severe effects at several vital levels of male goldfish reproduction. The results also suggests that the hormone E
2 can act as an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) in the environment.
Baltic Sea herring (Clupea harengus) is a pelagic, zoo-planktivorous fish and young (2−5 years old) individuals of this species are sampled annually in the Swedish marine monitoring program. This ...study determined concentrations of organochlorines (OCs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in dorsal muscle from herring (n = 60) of varying age (2−13 years), weight (25−200 g), and body length (16−29 cm) caught at three locations in the Swedish part of the Baltic Proper. In order to ensure that the fish biology was as varied as possible, though still similar from all sampling sites, the fish to be chemically analyzed were selected from a large number of fish with determined biology using Multivariate Design. In statistical evaluation of the data, univariate and multivariate data analysis techniques, e.g. principal components analysis (PCA), partial least-squares regression (PLS), and orthogonal PLS (OPLS), were used. The results showed that the fish are exposed to a cocktail of contaminants and levels are presented. Significant OPLS models were found for all biological variables versus concentrations of OCs and BFRs, showing that fish biology covaries with fish contaminant concentrations. Correlation coefficients were as high as 0.98 for e.g. βHCH concentration (wet weight) versus the lipid content. Lastly, the OC concentrations in herring muscle were modeled against the BFR concentrations to determine whether concentrations of either could be used to predict the other. It was found that OPLS models allowed BFR concentrations to be predicted from OC concentrations with high, but varying, accuracy (R 2 Ys between 0.93 to 0.75). Thus, fish biology and contaminant concentrations are interwoven, and fish biological parameters can be used to calculate (predict) contaminant concentrations. It is also possible to predict the BFR concentrations in an individual fish from its concentrations of OCs with very high accuracy.
The uptake and elimination of 20 structurally diverse tetra- to heptachlorinated biphenyls were studied in zebrafish (Danio rerio), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and Arctic char ...(Salvelinus alpinus). The polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were administered to the fish through food, intraperitoneal injection of peanut oil, or intraperitoneal implantation of silicone capsules. The retention of the PCBs in fish exposed through their diet was related with the substitution patterns of the compounds. Ortho-substituted congeners with no unsubstituted meta-para positions had high biomagnification potential. PCBs with low biomagnification all had adjacent vicinal hydrogens, indicating that congeners with this feature may have been metabolically eliminated. The retention characteristics of the PCBs in the diet-exposed and the injected zebrafish were similar. The pattern of congeners in Arctic char indicates that they have a lower capacity to metabolize PCBs compared to three-spined sticklebacks and zebrafish. The levels in the fish exposed to the PCBs through a silastic implant were negatively correlated with the hydrophobicity of the congeners. Most probably congener-specific release rates of the PCBs from the implants mask their retention characteristics. It is suggested that food, mimicking the natural intake route, should be used in PCB exposure studies to validate extrapolations to natural situations.
We compared the ability of urine and ovarian fluid from female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) to stimulate increase in plasma concentrations of sex steroid hormones in mature conspecific male parr ...(priming effect of the stimuli). We also tested the hypothesis that prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) may act as a priming pheromone in the tested stimulants. Individual males of salmon parr were exposed to female urine, ovarian fluid, urine-ovarian fluid mix, or PGF2alpha. Plasma concentrations of the sex steroids of 17,20beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20beta-P) were higher in males exposed to urine, ovarian fluids, and PGF2alpha compared to control males. PGF2alpha and a mixture of urine and ovarian fluid also gave increased concentrations of 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT). Concentrations of PGF2alpha were higher in ovarian fluids than in urine. A behavior test with mature male parr in a fluviarium showed neither attraction to nor avoidance of 0.1 nM PGF2alpha, but plasma levels of 17,20beta-P were significantly higher in exposed males compared to controls.
The behavioral responses to urine and ovarian fluids from conspecific and heterospecific ovulated females were studied in mature Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) male parr in a two-choice fluviarium. ...The males reacted differently to the stimulants. They spent more time in water scented by urine from salmon or brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) females compared to the time in water with ovarian fluids from salmon females. Furthermore, the males were attracted to salmon female urine (different from an indifferent reaction). Males exposed to urine of either species had higher plasma concentrations of testosterone (T) compared to unexposed controls. Measurement of the concentrations of prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) and its major metabolite 15-ketodihydroprostaglandin F2alpha (15-ketodihydro-PGF2alpha) showed that the concentrations of the substances were higher in ovarian fluids of both species compared to those in urine. PGF2alpha showed a greater difference between ovarian fluid and urine than its major metabolite. The results suggest that urine of both species, in contrast to ovarian fluid, contain substances that attract mature Atlantic salmon male parr and that the active substances are neither PGF2alpha nor 15-keto-PGF2alpha.
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