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PCBs and Human Health

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Book cover Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs): Mammalian and Environmental Toxicology

Part of the book series: Environmental Toxin Series ((TOXIN SERIES,volume 1))

Abstract

Humans have been exposed to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixtures via 3 major pathways. Several thousand workers engaged in the manufacture and application of PCBs have been exposed to relatively high levels of these compounds and serum levels up to 3000 ppb have been measured in occupationally-exposed individuals. The accidental leakage of a PCB-containing industrial fluid into rice oil resulted in the exposure of several thousand individuals in two separate incidents in Japan (1968, Yusho poisoning) and Taiwan (1979, Yu Cheng poisoning). The Yusho/Yu Cheng poisoning victims constitute a second high PCB exposure group. Population surveys have also been shown that most humans are exposed to relatively small concentrations of PCBs through the food chain and constitute the low level exposure group. Recent studies have shown that the relative severity of the toxic symptoms observed in Yusho and Yu Cheng incidents compared to the moderate effects observed in occupationally-exposed workers is primarily due to the high levels of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) identified in the PCB fluid which contaminated the rice oil in the Yusho and Yu Cheng victims. Occupational exposure to PCBs can result in dermal toxicity, hepatic dysfunction and decrease in pulmonary function; however, these effects appear to be reversible after exposure to PCBs is terminated. Based on the severity and duration of the toxic symptoms observed in workers exposed to high levels of PCBs, it is unlikely that environmental exposure to these chemicals leads to any adverse human effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dep. of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College of Veterinary Medicine, College Station, TX, 77843-4466, USA

    S. Safe

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  1. Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College of Veterinary Medicine, 77843-4466, College Station, TX, USA

    Stephen Safe

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© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Safe, S. (1987). PCBs and Human Health. In: Safe, S. (eds) Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs): Mammalian and Environmental Toxicology. Environmental Toxin Series, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70550-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70550-2_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70552-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70550-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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