OBJECTIVES Our aim was to report the first known incidence of U.S. butter contamination with extremely high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). METHODS Ten butter samples were individually analyzed for PBDEs. One of the samples and its paper wrapper contained very high levels of higher-brominated PBDEs. Dietary estimates were calculated using the 2007 U.S. Department of Agricult...

BACKGROUND There is increasing interest in the potential effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) on children's neuropsychological development, but only a few small studies have evaluated such effects. OBJECTIVES Our goal was to examine the association between PBDE concentrations in colostrum and infant neuropsychological development and to assess the influence of other persistent or...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are used in high amounts as flame retardants in plastic materials and textiles. Due to their persistence, their accumulation in the food chain and their toxic properties they have been integrated in the human biomonitoring program of the Baden-Württemberg State Health Office since 2002. In repeated cross-sectional studies in winter 2002/03 (n=162), 2004/05 ...

Data on early human fetal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is limited. However, early pregnancy, in particular the first trimester, is critical for fetal development. We investigated exposure to PBDEs and placental transfer during early pregnancy by analyzing PBDEs in paired aborted fetuses (n = 65), placentas (n = 65), and maternal blood samples (n = 31) at 10-13 weeks gestat...

A mass budget of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in San Francisco Bay is developed as a first step towards understanding the local sources and transport processes controlling PBDE fate in a highly urbanized estuary. Extensive monitoring of PBDEs in estuarine water and sediment, freshwater tributaries, air, and wastewater effluents and sludges were integrated with a mass budget model to p...

Chicken eggs categorised as conventional, omega-3 enriched, free range and organic were collected at grading stations in three regions of Canada between 2005 and 2006. Free run eggs, which were only available for collection from two regions, were also sampled during this time frame. Egg yolks from each of these egg types (n = 162) were analysed to determine brominated flame retardant levels, sp...

Polychlorinated and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs) were measured in serum of twelve firefighters sampled after a fire event in San Francisco, California, along with polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p'-DDE, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), bisphenol-A (BPA) and tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBB...

During recent years, a marked increase in the levels of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), especially polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in human tissues all over the world have been observed (Scheter et al., 2000; Tomsen et al., 2002). It is mainly due to the following facts: their production and use have undergone a dramatic increase starting in the 1980s (Sjödin et al., 2004) and their...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), one class of flame retardants used to suppress or inhibit the risk of fire, are regularly found in the environment and in human milk. The present study shows that neonatal exposure to a widely, environmentally found PBDE, 2,2',4,4',5-pentaBDE (PBDE 99), can induce developmental neurotoxic effects, such as changes in spontaneous behavior (hyperactivity), e...

Pooled yellow eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) samples, consisting of 3-10 eels, from 50 locations collected in the period 2000-2006 were used to assess the pollution with PBDEs and HBCDs in Flemish waters (Belgium). Results from this monitoring network are presented and the spatial aspect throughout Flanders is included, linking POP levels to the industrial characteristics of the different sampling ...