Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the structurally related polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are abundant persistent organic pollutants that exert several comparable neurotoxic effects. Importantly, hydroxylated metabolites of PCBs and PBDEs have an increased neurotoxic potency. Recently, we demonstrated that PCBs can act as (partial) agonist on GABAA neurotransmitter receptors, with PC...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the structurally related polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are abundant persistent organic pollutants that exert several comparable neurotoxic effects. Importantly, hydroxylated metabolites of PCBs and PBDEs have an increased neurotoxic potency. Recently, we demonstrated that PCBs can act as (partial) agonist on GABA(A) neurotransmitter receptors, with ...

objective: to determine the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) and polybrominateddiphenyl ethers (pbdes) as persistent organic pollutants (pops) in serum of primiparous women at the third trimester of pregnancy and identify the main determinants of pops levels such as socio-demographic, lifestyle, and diet in tehran. materials and methods: one- hundred eighty five serum samples from two...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are added to plastics, polyurethane foam, and textiles as a flame retardant. While PBDEs play a key role in reducing loss of human life and property from fires, these flame retardants have become pervasive organic contaminants in the environment and in the tissues of fish, birds, marine mammals, and humans. Levels of PBDEs in wildlife and humans continue t...

Xing et al. (2009) exposed Wistar rats to decabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE 209; CASRN 1163-19-5) during five developmental periods: pregnancy, lactation via mother’s milk (indirect dosing), lactation via gavage (direct dosing), postweaning (direct dosing), and prenatal to life (indirect dosing during gestation and lactation and direct dosing postweaning). All animals were evaluated on postnatal da...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used as flame retardants. Although many reports have indicated an association between exposure to PBDEs and developmental neurotoxicity, the relative contributions of different sources of dust PBDE congeners to the levels in various tissues of mother-baby pairs is not well understood. The aims of this study were thus to measure the quantitative r...

BACKGROUND Brominated flame retardants, especially polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), have been widely used in North America, but little is known about the level of exposure of human populations to these compounds. OBJECTIVES We set out to assess the internal exposure of postmenopausal Canadian women to selected organobromine compounds and to investigate factors associated with this expo...

Taihu Lake area is one of the densest metropolitan areas in the world including diverse industrial activity. In the present study, the snail (Bellamya aeruginosa) and sediment were collected from the Taihu Lake area to investigate the contamination status, congener pattern, spatial distribution, and bioaccumulation effect of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (P...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in blubber of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) collected between 1991 and 2005 along the northwest Atlantic. summation operatorPBDE concentrations (mono- to hexa-BDEs) detected in blubber samples (n=42) ranged from 80 to 25720 ng g(-1)lw, (overall mean 2403+/-5406 ng g(-1)lw). By age, mean summation operatorPBDE concentrations were: 364...