Persistent halogenated compounds (PHCs), such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE), and polybrominated biphenyl 153 (PBB 153), were quantified in muscles of five waterbird species collected from an extensive e-waste recycling r...

Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs; DDTs, HCHs, CHLs, and HCB) were measured in human breast milk samples collected across Massachusetts, USA, in 2004. Seventeen PBDE congeners were found in the samples, ranging in concentration from 0.06 to 1910 ng g À1 lipid wt. 0 ,6-pentaBDE) were the major congeners detected in breast milk samples. ...

Breast milk samples from 38 women in New Zealand were analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) as part of a World Health Organization collaborative study of breast-milk contaminants. The women were recruited from two urban areas (Auckland and Christchurch) and two rural areas (N...

BACKGROUND The Indigenous Arctic population is of Asian descent, and their genetic background is different from the Caucasian populations. Relatively little is known about the specific genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in the activation and detoxification mechanisms of environmental contaminants in Inuit and its relation to health risk. The Greenlandic Inuit are highly exposed to legacy p...

It has been hypothesized that environmental exposure to synthetic estrogenic chemicals and related endocrine-active compounds may be responsible for a global decrease in sperm counts, decreased male reproductive capacity, and breast cancer in women. Results of recent studies show that there are large demographic variations in sperm counts within countries or regions, and analyses of North Ameri...

In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it [1]. The environment, especially water ecosystem, is continuously loaded with foreign organic chemicals (xenobiotics) released by urban communities and industries. Water is not a com‐ mercial product like any other but, ...

Despite high animal diversity in the Neotropics and the largely unregulated use and disposal of pesticides and industrial chemicals in Central America, few data exist regarding accumulation of environmental contaminants in Central American wildlife. In this study we examined accumulation of metals and organochlorine (OC) pesticides in caudal scutes of crocodiles from Belize and Costa Rica. Scut...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine differences between concentrations of persistent, lipid-soluble chemical contaminants in breast and abdominal adipose tissues and to explore whether concentrations measured in one tissue could predict concentrations in the other tissue. METHODS We analyzed surgical specimens and measured concentrations of prevalent dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, ...

The status of the contamination of Dutch marine harbor sediments was reevaluated after a period in which emissions from point sources had been greatly reduced. Data on sediment chemistry from 1999 and 2000 were assessed against screening levels (SLs) selected from available sediment quality guidelines and representing a low probability of adverse biological effects. This yielded a ranking of th...

The aim of our study was to assess the occurrence and to determine the concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and indicator PCB congeners in muscle tissue of freshwater fish species and, additionally, in sediments collected from three sampling sites of the Vistula River in the vicinity of Cracow. The determinations of HCH isomers, HCB, DDTs (p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDT), and ...