BACKGROUND Toxic organochlorine compounds (OC) are transmitted from mother to infant during lactation. OC are ingested by and stored in their offspring. Different harmful effects later in life have been attributed to the body pollution with these OC, although these findings are still discussed in an argumentative manner, since first other investigators could demonstrate beneficial effects of br...

The objective of this study was to examine the importance of nutrient status of a diatom (Stephanodiscus minutulus) to the uptake of PCB congener #54 (2,2',6,6'-tetrachlorobiphenyl) and the subsequent transfer of PCB to a pelagic grazing zooplankton (Daphnia pulicaria). The algae, which were grown under different nutrient treatments, were then fed to a zooplankton to examine the subsequent food...

Muscle samples were collected from pup, juvenile and adult Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) near McMurdo Sound, Antarctica during the austral summer of 2006. Blubber samples were collected from juvenile and adult seals. Samples were analyzed for emerging and legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including current and historic-use organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls...

Epidemiological and laboratory studies link polychlorinated biphenyls and their metabolites to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Several neurotoxic PCB congeners are chiral and undergo enantiomeric enrichment in mammalian species, which may modulate PCB developmental neurotoxicity. This study measures levels and enantiomeric enrichment of PCB 95 and its hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs) in ...

Numerous reports have illustrated the versatility of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and related halogenated aromatics as inducers of drug-metabolizing enzymes and the activity of individual compounds are remarkably dependent on structure. The most active PCB congeners, 3,4,4',5-tetra-, 3,3',4,4'-tetra-, 3,3',4,4',5-penta- and 3,3',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl, are substituted at both para and...

A follow-up study of capacitor manufacturing workers exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and their children was conducted since 1973. PCB levels in whole blood of workers as well as in breast milk of the exposed lactating mothers were approximately 10 to 100 times those of nonexposed Japanese. Blood PCB levels had a statistically significant correlation with the duration of PCB handling...

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners with multiple ortho chlorine substituents and their metabolites exist as stable rotational isomers, or atropisomers, that are nonsuperimposable mirror images of each other. Additionally, the oxidation of certain axially prochiral PCBs, such as 2,2',4,6'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 51) and 2,2',4,5,6'-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 102), in the meta position of th...

We recently demonstrated that polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners with multiple ortho chlorine substitutions sensitize ryanodine receptors (RyRs), and this activity promotes Ca²⁺-dependent dendritic growth in cultured neurons. Many ortho-substituted congeners display axial chirality, and we previously reported that the chiral congener PCB 136 (2,2',3,3',6,6'-hexachlorobiphenyl) atropselect...

Polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) biodegradation was followed for 1 year in microcosms containing marine sediments collected from Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy) chronically contaminated by this class of hazardous compounds. The microcosms were performed under strictly anaerobic conditions with or without the addition ofDehalococcoides mccartyi, the main microorganism known to degrade PCBs through the anae...