PCB exposure may raise lymphoma risk

Roman Bystrianyk · medicine forum Guru Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 454

Michelle Rizzo, "PCB exposure may raise lymphoma risk", Reuters UK,
June 30, 2005,
Link:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-06-30T135705Z_01_B480948_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-PCB-LYMPHOMA-DC.XML

Results of a study hint that exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated
biphenyls) increases the risk of the development of non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma (NHL), a blood cancer involving the lymph nodes.

The incidence of NHL has risen over the past several decades but the
reasons for this are unclear, study investigators explain in the July
issue of the journal Epidemiology.

In a population-based, case-control study, they examined the
association between NHL risk and exposure to organochlorine compounds
using concentrations in carpet dust as an exposure indicator. They
collected carpet dust samples from the homes of 603 NHL patients and
443 controls. The subjects had owned most of their carpets for at least
5 years.

Dr. Joanne S. Colt, of the National Institutes of Health, Rockville,
Maryland, and colleagues found that the risk of developing NHL was 50
percent higher if any of the PCB compounds was detected.

The greatest effects were observed for one particular PCB compound (PCB
180), "for which NHL risk increased steadily as dust residues of the
compound increased," Colt said in an interview with Reuters Health.

The study also provides some evidence that DDE, a breakdown product of
DDT, another organochlorine compound, contributes to the increased risk
of NHL.

"PCBs and DDT were banned in the United States in the 1970s," Colt
said. "However, exposure to these compounds was once widespread and
they continue to be ubiquitous environmental pollutants," she added.
"If the association observed in our study is real, these compounds
could have contributed to the risk of NHL observed over the past
several decades."

The authors do not believe that contaminated carpet dust is a major
route of exposure to these compounds. "However," she added, "because
these chemicals persist in carpets for many years, their presence in
carpet dust today could be indicative of exposures that occurred many
years ago."

SOURCE: Epidemiology July 2005.

Steph · medicine forum Guru Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 504

Roman, why do you get a kick out of continually posting scare stories?

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