Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs): biochemistry, toxicology, and mechanism of action

Journal Article · · CRC Crit. Rev. Toxicol.; (United States)

Polychlorinated and polybrominated biphenyls are industrial chemical mixtures which have been implicated in numerous human poisonings in Taiwan and Japan (PCBs) and Michigan (PBBs). Moreover, these polyhalogenated biphenyls have been widely detected in the environment including the air, water, fish, wildlife, human adipose tissue, and blood and breast milk. A major problem associated with the analysis and toxicology of this group of chemicals is their chemical complexity (e.g., there are 209 possible PCB isomers and congeners) and the remarkable effects of structure on activity. This article will discuss the effects of structure on the biologic and toxic effects of individual PCB and PBB congeners as well as reconstituted mixtures. The results clearly show that like ''dioxin'' (or 2,3,7,8-TCDD), the PCBs and PBBs elicit their effects through a cytosolic receptor protein which preferentially binds with the toxins which are approximate isostereomers of 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The evidence for this mechanism of action will be discussed in detail.

Research Organization:
Texas A and M Univ., College Station
OSTI ID:
5969949
Journal Information:
CRC Crit. Rev. Toxicol.; (United States), Journal Name: CRC Crit. Rev. Toxicol.; (United States) Vol. 13:4; ISSN CRTXB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Determinants of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) levels in the sera of young children
Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · American Journal of Public Health; (USA) · OSTI ID:5477547
Determinants of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) levels in the sera of young children
Technical Report · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1988 · OSTI ID:6757429
Transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) across the human placenta and into maternal milk
Journal Article · Sat Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1984 · Am. J. Public Health Nation's Health; (United States) · OSTI ID:6829933

Related Subjects

560306* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AROMATICS
BIOCHEMISTRY
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL BONDS
CHEMISTRY
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PROTEINS
RECEPTORS
STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS
TOXICITY