-transparent.png){kind=logo}
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) were dispersed widely in Michigan by a 1973 shipping accident in which PBB was introduced into cattle feed. Human exposure resulted principally from ingestion of contaminated dairy food products. To determine whether PBB exposure has or will cause acute or chronic illness, a prospective cohort study of 4545 persons has been undertaken. Three exposure groups were sought; all persons living on PBB-quarantined farms; persons who had received food directly from such farms; workers (and their families) engaged in PBB manufacture. Enrollment rates were 95.6, 95.1 and 78.0%. Also enrolled were 725 persons with low-level PBB exposure. All were queried concerning 17 symptoms and conditions related possibly to PBB. Venous blood was drawn on 3639 and analyzed for PBB by gas chromatography. Mean serum PBB levels were 26.9 ppb in quarantined farm families, 17.1 in recipients, 43.0 ppb in workers, and 3.4 ppb in the low exposure groups. No associations were found between serum PBB levels and symptom prevalence rates. To evaluate peripheral lymphocyte function, T and B cell quantitation and in vitro responses to 3 nonspecific mitogens were studied in 34 persons with highest PBB levels (mean, 787 ppb), and in 56 with low values (mean, 2.8 ppb). No statistically significant differences in lymphocyte number or function were noted.
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
July 1998,
Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.),
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
March 1978,
Science (New York, N.Y.),
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
November 2001,
Environmental health perspectives,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
May 1979,
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
July 1979,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
November 1990,
Environmental health perspectives,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
October 1984,
American journal of public health,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
January 1980,
The New England journal of medicine,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
July 2007,
Annals of epidemiology,
P J Landrigan, and
K R Wilcox, and
J Silva, and
H E Humphrey, and
C Kauffman, and
C W Heath
January 1987,
Cancer detection and prevention. Supplement : official publication of the International Society for Preventive Oncology, Inc,
