INTRODUCTION The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has been implemented in an effort to combat the release of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are found in environmental samples such as soils, sludges, solid and semisolid waste, and sediments. POPs are also found in biological samples such as human breast milk, and fish tissue. UNEP is interested in eliminating POPs...

Data on pesticide body load in the south China region are scarce. Here, we report the concentrations of 24 persistent organic pollutants (POPs), in 10 pools of human milk samples, collected at 2-6weeks postpartum from 238 primiparous women living in Hong Kong and south China, who participated in the 2002-2003 WHO exposure study. Residues were determined by gas chromatography with electron captu...

The human diet contains industrial-derived, endocrine-active chemicals and higher levels of naturally occurring compounds that modulate multiple endocrine pathways. Hazard and risk assessment of these mixtures is complicated by noadditive interactions between different endocrine-mediated responses. This study focused on estrogenic chemicals in the diet and compared the relative potencies or est...

Chlorinated organic compounds, prevalent contaminants found in the geo-environment, pose an ecological risk even at trace concentrations. More volatile chlorinated compounds such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds) have been detected in urban areas and industrial zones because of the use of these compounds as components of industrial solvents and both raw and intermediate synthetic products. C...

Reports of reproductive abnormalities in the American alligator from Lake Apopka, Florida, have been linked to a spill of DDT and other pesticides suspected of having hormonelike activity. To determine whether environmental chemicals had the potential to function as exogenous hormones in the American alligator, we examined the ability of chemicals to bind the estrogen receptor (aER) and progest...

In order to produce a reporter gene assay for androgenic chemicals, a constitutive expression vector coding for the human androgen receptor and a reporter construct containing the firefly luciferase coding sequence under transcriptional control of the androgen responsive MMTV promoter were cotransfected into the androgen-insensitive human PC-3 prostate carcinoma cell line and stable transfectan...

Until the early 70s, it was thought that pollution was a phenomenon circumscribed to zones where pollutants were generated. Because of that, in each country concern was limited to regions where pollutant concentration was higher or its danger was greater. However, it has gradually become aware that pollution is a problem that affects everybody and, because of that, everybody is responsible to c...

Background: North American Great Lakes are home to more than 140 types of fish and are famous for recreational and commercial fishing. However, presence of toxic substances has resulted in issuance of fish consumption advisories typically based on the most restrictive contaminant. Objectives: We investigate if these advisories, which typically neglect existence of a mixture of chemicals and the...