Emission of unintentionally formed polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from industrial thermal processes is a global issue. Because the production and use of technical PCB mixtures has been banned, industrial thermal processes have become increasingly important sources of PCBs. Among these processes, secondary copper smelting is an important PCB source in China. In the present study, the potential...

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of six polychlorinated biphenyls (referred to as PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-101, PCB-138, PCB-153 and PCB-180, according to the IUPAC) in freshwater fish from the Zagreb area. A total of 216 samples was collected from five sites: from the Sava River upstream of Zagreb, in Zagreb, and downstream of Zagreb, from Lake Jarun, and from five fishponds from t...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that have attracted great concern in the past few decades. PCBs were first synthesized in 1864 (WHO, 1993) and widely used in the United States between 1929 until their manufacture was banned in 1977 (Erickson, 1986; Nies and Vogel, 1990). Due to the widespread use of PCBs and improper disposal practices, a significant a...

Hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) are well known as metabolites of PCBs in the human body. We improved a measurement method for OH-PCBs in blood samples using LC/MS/MS. A new 2 microm particle column was used, and the analytical conditions for the LC/MS/MS measurements were optimized. The improved method is more sensitive than the conventional method for 5g blood samples. And, th...

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were daily given orally for 22 days a regimen consisting of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 1 mg/day; polychlorinated quaterphenyls (PCQs), 1 mg/day; polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), 10 micrograms/day; or a mixture of PCBs, PCQs and PCDFs (Mix-1, 1 mg + 1 mg + 10 micrograms/day). Female Cynomolgus monkeys were daily administered PCBs (5 mg), PCQs (5 mg) or a mix...

A new thermodynamic model for calculating the dissociation constants of complexes formed between the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is reported. The free energies of binding of PCBs to AhR are controlled by their lipophilicities, electron affinities, and entropies. The corresponding physicochemical properties of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo...

1. Albatross eggs and embryos were collected in field seasons from 1996 to 1998 by Department of Conservation field staff. Species collected were the Northern Royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi), Northern Buller's mollymawk (Thalassarche (platei) (nova sp.)) and Chatham Islands mollymawk (Thalassarche eremita). 2. Tissues were submitted to ESR for chemical analysis. Chemicals of particular inte...