P.C.B. Levels In Human Fluids : Sheboygan Case Study

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are among the most commonly found contaminants in all ecosystems, and they have been detected at various levels in a multitude of plant and animal species. But the PCB problem became a national concern in the U.S. when the PCB levels in the breast milk of some women were found to be higher than the maximum contamination level allowed by the federal government for any commercially sold food. Research in Michigan in 1979 showed that PCBs were present in the milk of the majority of the nursing mothers sampled (Wickizer et al. 1981). The magnitude of PCB body burdens in the citizens of Wisconsin is unknown, nor is it known what factors play a part in the accumulation of PCBs in the body. People may accumulate a PCB body burden from a variety of sources — from the consumption of fish from contaminated waterways, from direct industrial exposure, from simply living in an industrial area, or from continuous low level exposure through food. The guiding purposes of this University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute study were to (1) determine PCB levels in the serum and breast milk of childbearing women in an industrial town in Wisconsin, (2) to determine whether the consumption of fish from a PCB-contaminated local river and Lake Michigan is associated with an increased PCB body burden and (3) to obtain preliminary information on the potential toxic effects of maternally transferred PCBs on infants.