PBB episode in Michigan: an overall appraisal
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) were used as a fire retardant. In common with other halogenated hydrocarbons, PBBs are lipophilic and resistant to chemical and metabolic degradation. Cattle on about 25 Michigan farms were exposed to as much as 250 g per head of PBB when it was accidentally mixed in cattle feed in 1973 to 1974. Livestock exposures several orders of magnitude lower occurred on several hundred other farms because of carryover and equipment contamination in feed mills. Approximately 85% of the Michigan population received some exposure to PBB because dairy product marketing involves mixing milk from many farms. A few cases of high human exposure, which may have been as great as 10 g, occurred when residents of the more highly exposed farms consumed their own products. Although numerous clinical signs and pathological changes were reported in exposed cattle, only anorexia, lacrimation, emaciation, hyperkeratosis, and kidney damage were confirmed in controlled studies. The acute toxicity of PBB in laboratory animals is low, but a variety of subacute effects have been reported. Induction of microsomal enzymes, enlargement and histopathological changes of the liver, fetotoxicity, and immunosuppression are among the more significant. Epidemiological studies of exposed humans have revealed no pattern of clinical signs or symptoms that were related to PBB exposure. A complete evaluation of the human consequences of exposure to PBB await the conclusion of long-term epidemiological studies. 84 references.
- Research Organization:
- Dept. of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD
- OSTI ID:
- 5858015
- Journal Information:
- CRC Crit. Rev. Toxicol.; (United States), Vol. 2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BROMINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
HEALTH HAZARDS
BODY BURDEN
CARCINOGENS
CATTLE
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
CONTAMINATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
HUMAN POPULATIONS
MICHIGAN
MILK
ANIMALS
AROMATICS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BODY FLUIDS
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
FEDERAL REGION V
FOOD
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HAZARDS
INDUSTRY
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC BROMINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POPULATIONS
RUMINANTS
USA
VERTEBRATES
560306* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Man- (-1987)