We review the commonly occurring persistent pesticides and industrial chemicals in breast milk. These chemicals are dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane as dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene dieldrin, chlordane as oxychlordane, heptachlor, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins. We present a worked example of the kinds of pharmacokinetic assumption...

Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine (OC) pesticides (chlordane-related compounds [sigmaCHL], DDT-related compounds [sigmaDDT], hexachlorocyclohexanes [sigmaHCH], tris(p-chloro-phenyl)methane, hexachlorobenzene, octachlorostyrene, dieldrin) were determined in fat of Laysan albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) and in fat and eggs of blackfooted albatross (Diomedea nigripes) from the central...

The Ballona Creek Estuary (BCE) in Los Angeles, California, is in a highly urbanized watershed, is contaminated by a variety of chemicals, and has prevalent sediment toxicity. Sediment cleanup targets for BCE have been established for Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, chlordane, DDTs, PCBs, and PAHs, based on sediment quality guidelines. A sediment toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) was conducted to examin...

BACKGROUND Incidence of childhood leukemia in industrialized countries rose significantly during 1975-2004, and the reasons for the increase are not understood. OBJECTIVES We used carpet dust as an exposure indicator to examine the risk of childhood leukemia in relation to residential exposure to persistent organochlorine chemicals: six polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and the pestici...

BACKGROUND Organochlorine insecticides (OCs) have historically been used worldwide to control insects, although most have now been banned in developed countries. Evidence for an association between OC exposures and cancer predominantly comes from occupational and population based-studies among men. We evaluated the association between the use of specific OCs and cancer among the female spouses ...

Development of an estrogen receptor-mediated, chemical-activated luciferase reporter gene-expression (ER-CALUX) assay was attempted by stable transfection of luciferase reporter genes in a number of cell lines. Stable transfection of the chimeric Gal4 estrogen receptor and luciferase gene constructs in MCF-7 breast cancer and Hepa.1c1c7 mouse hepatoma cell lines, as well as transfection of a ne...

Organochlorine insecticides and their degradation products contribute to toxicity in Chesapeake Bay, USA, sediments and affect the reproductive health of avian species in the region; however, little is known of atmospheric sources or temporal trends in concentrations of these chemicals. Weekly air (n = 265) and daily rain samples (n = 494) were collected over 2000 to 2003 from three locations i...