Naturally produced polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) pervade the marine environment and structurally resemble toxic man-made brominated flame retardants. PBDEs bioaccumulate in marine animals and are likely transferred to the human food chain. However, the biogenic basis for PBDE production in one of their most prolific sources, marine sponges of the order Dysideidae, remains unidentified....

polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbde) are widely employed as flame retardants and constitutea group of emerging pollutants of high persistence. the degradation of different pbde commercial mixtures(penta-, octa- and deca-bde) by the white-rot fungus trametes versicolor under aerobic conditions wasstudied. this work demonstrates the capacity of t. versicolor to degrade three different pbde comme...

BACKGROUND Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), which are used as flame retardants, have been found to be higher in residents of California than of other parts of the United States. OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate the role of immigration to California on PBDE levels in Latino children. METHODS We compared serum PBDE concentrations in a population of first-generation Mexican-American 7-...

Brominated flame retardants are a novel group of global environmental contaminants. Within this group the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) constitute one class of many that are found in electrical appliances, building materials, and textiles. PBDEs are persistent compounds that appear to have an environmental dispersion similar to that of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphen...

In the present study, we assessed the treatment effects of PBDE-209 administration on the immune function in rats during pregnancy and lactation. We harvested the blood and organs for flow cytometry, viability assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and histological evaluation. The results of this study were the PBDE-209 exposure during pregnancy and lactation impairs immune function in rats....

BACKGROUND Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of brominated flame retardants commonly used in a wide range of products. Prenatal exposure to PBDEs has been associated with adverse neurodevelopment. Our objective was to characterize predictors of exposure to PBDEs among a multi-ethnic, low-income cohort of pregnant women enrolled from highly urban communities in New York City bet...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants and are universally present in the environment. An exponential increase in PBDE concentrations in the U.S. population have been reported over the last 3 decades. PBDEs 47 (tetraBDE) and 99 (pentaBDE) are the most commonly detected PBDE congeners in the environment and in human samples. PBDE209 (decaBDE) is the only remaining PB...

BACKGROUND Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are brominated flame retardants that have been defined as major environmental pollutants. While previous studies have found that PBDEs may enhance the levels of sex-steroid hormones, their effects on testosterone secretion from rat Leydig cells are unclear. This study investigated the effects and mechanisms of PBDE-710, a mixture of tetra- and p...

The use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is increasing annually in China. Although several studies have reported significant contamination by these compounds in biological samples in China, little is known about the factors that may influence the levels of exposure and the potential health risk for infants. We investigated PBDE exposure levels in breast milk, its influencing factors an...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been measured in the home environment and in humans, but studies linking environmental levels to body burdens are limited. This study examines the relationship between PBDE concentrations in house dust and serum from adults residing in these homes. We measured PBDE concentrations in house dust from 50 homes and in serum of male-female couples from 12 ...