Hexachlorobenzene in blood

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a ubiquitous, persistent, bioaccumulating and toxic substance that has been banned in Austria since 1992. For the first time, the Federal Environment Agency has determined comparative values for Austria in order to determine the average age- and gender-specific HCB exposure. The HCB concentrations were analyzed in the blood plasma of men and women aged 20 to 69 years from preferably rural regions (all federal states except Carinthia) based on mixed samples. HCB concentrations ranged from 0.15 μg/l (women, 20-29 years) to 0.6 μg/l (women, 60-69 years). The studies showed partly gender-specific differences with higher loads of women, as well as a clear age-dependent increase in load with increasing age.六氯苯（Hexachlorobenzene, HCB）是一种广泛分布、兼具持久性、生物累积性与毒性的物质，自1992年起在奥地利被禁用。奥地利联邦环境署首次为本国制定了对照基准值，以明确按年龄与性别划分的六氯苯平均暴露水平。本研究基于混合样本，对取自除克恩滕州外的所有联邦州、优选乡村地区的20至69岁男女的血浆中六氯苯浓度进行了分析。六氯苯浓度范围为0.15微克/升（20-29岁女性）至0.6微克/升（60-69岁女性）。研究结果显示存在一定的性别差异：女性体内六氯苯负荷更高，且负荷水平随年龄增长呈现显著的年龄依赖性上升趋势。