PCBs, PCDD/Fs, and PBDEs in blood samples of a rural population in South Germany

Abstract The body burden of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), dioxin-like (dl-PCBs) and non-dioxin-like (ndl-PCBs) polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was determined in blood samples from 70 subjects between 4 and 76 years old. The participants of the study were recruited in the neighborhood of a reclamation plant located in a rural area in Southern Germany. The median concentrations (95th percentiles in parentheses), expressed as WHO 2005 -TEQ (toxic equivalents), for PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs were 4.5 (17.9) pg g −1 l.w. and 2.6 (13.2) pg g −1 l.w., respectively. The dl-PCBs contributed 40% of the total TEQ (median values), and the most abundant congener was PCB 156. Combined, the sum of the 6 non-dioxin-like PCBs had a median of 0.773 μg L −1 and a 95th percentile of 4.895 μg L −1 . For the six tetra to hepta PBDE congeners, the median was 1.8 ng g −1 l.w. (95th percentile: 16.2 ng g −1 l.w.). None of our study subjects had a body burden that exceeded the biomonitoring equivalents for dioxins or PBDE congener 99 or the human biomonitoring values for ndl-PCBs. Likewise the study group did not exceed German reference values or values obtained in similar investigations. Overall, our study did not exhibit elevated internal exposures. The results also hint further decreasing tendencies for PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PBDEs in Germany and demonstrates that people in the vicinity of a reclamation plant with no indication of an environmental contamination did not exhibit elevated internal exposures.