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Serum TCDD and TEQ concentrations among Seveso women, 20 years after the explosion

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 24, pages 588–594 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Seveso Women’s Health Study (SWHS) is a historical cohort study of the female population residing near Seveso, Italy, on 10 July 1976, when a chemical explosion resulted in the highest known residential exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Individual TCDD concentration was measured in serum collected near the time of the explosion, and in 1996, we collected adequate blood for TCDD and total dioxin toxic equivalent (TEQ) measurement. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls were measured in 1996 serum for a sample (n=225, 23%) of the SWHS cohort and WHO 2005 TEQs were calculated. We examined characteristics that predict 1996 TCDD concentrations and estimated TCDD elimination half-life over the 20-year period since the explosion. Median lipid-adjusted TCDD and total TEQ concentrations in 1996 serum were 7.3 and 26.2 p.p.t., respectively. Initial 1976 TCDD and age at explosion were the strongest predictors of 1996 TCDD. The TCDD elimination half-life was 7.1 years for women older than 10 years in 1976, but was shorter in those who were younger. Twenty years after the explosion, TCDD concentrations in this SWHS sample, the majority of who were children in 1976, remain elevated relative to background. These data add to the limited data available on TCDD elimination half-life in children.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

body mass index

c-PCB:

coplanar PCB

m-PCB:

mono-ortho PCB

PCDD:

polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins

PCDF:

polychlorinated dibenzofuran

PCB:

polychlorinated biphenyl

SWHS:

Seveso Women’s Health Study

TCDD:

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

TEF:

toxicity equivalency factor

TEQ:

toxic equivalent

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Aliza Parigi for coordinating data collection at Hospital of Desio and Larry L. Needham for the significant contributions he made to the Seveso Women’s Health Study. This study was supported by grant numbers R01 ES07171 and F06 TW02075-01 from the National Institutes of Health, R82471 from the US Environmental Protection Agency, 2P30-ESO01896-17 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and #2896 from Regione Lombardia and Fondazione Lombardia Ambiente, Milan, Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Marcella Warner, Amelia Wesselink & Brenda Eskenazi

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, School of Medicine, Hospital of Desio, Desio-Milano, Italy

    Paolo Mocarelli & Paolo Brambilla

  3. Division of Environmental Health Laboratory Science, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Don G Patterson Jr & Wayman E Turner

Authors
  1. Marcella Warner
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  2. Paolo Mocarelli
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  3. Paolo Brambilla
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  4. Don G Patterson Jr
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  5. Wayman E Turner
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  6. Brenda Eskenazi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcella Warner.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Warner, M., Mocarelli, P., Brambilla, P. et al. Serum TCDD and TEQ concentrations among Seveso women, 20 years after the explosion. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 24, 588–594 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.70

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