Vitamin E vs. PCBs.

Studies by scientists at the University of Kentucky in Lexington indicate that vitamin E appears to be an effective protectant against damage resulting from exposure to polychlori-nated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic chemicals whose manufacture has been banned in the United States since 1977. Although out of use for nearly 30 years, PCBs still remain the object of intense research interest because of their widespread presence and persistence in the environment. Produced as insulating fluids for electrical equipment and formerly released by industries such as paper mills and electronic equipment factories, PCBs are still found in soils and the sediments of rivers such as the Hudson in New York and the Fox in Wisconsin. The chemicals are also found in the atmosphere, drifting thousands of miles from warm climates and precipitating out into the Arctic region. PCBs are labeled as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and have also been shown to affect learning in both animals and humans. They are absorbed through the skin and can also be part of a meal if a person eats fish that have been swimming in contaminated water. David Carpenter, a professor of environmental health and toxicology at the State University of New York at Albany, notes that everyone carries around some PCBs in their blood and fat tissue. The Kentucky group, which includes Bernhard Hennig, a professor of toxicology and nutrition, and Larry Robertson, a pro-E is for effective. New research shows that vitamin E can protect against damage from PCBs. fessor of toxicology, has found that PCBs generate oxidative stress, the creation of tissue damaging free radicals, in endothelial cells. Endothelial cells line blood vessels, and free radicals cause them to become inflamed, one of the early developments leading to atherosclerosis. The group reported in the August 1995 issue of the Journal of Biochemical and Molecular Toxicology that damage occurred when cells in culture were exposed to PCBs for only 24 hours. In the December 1999 issue of Toxicological Sciences, they report that the damage can be blocked if the cultured cells are simultaneously exposed to vitamin E. Hennig says the most recent results have a clear and immediate message: "Some outreach programs might suggest that people who are at risk [for PCB exposure] take supplements of antioxidants to make them less susceptible to PCB-mediated toxicity," he says, noting that workers who clean up PCB-contaminated sites are one such …