122 Novembre ‘10 T he city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India suffered the world’s worst ever industrial disaster on December 3, 1984, when around 500,000 inhabitants were exposed to Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) released from the Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) pesticides factory and about 3,000 to 20,000 people died. The UCIL manufactured carbaryl, aldicarb and sevidol a formulation of carbaryl and ...

Introduction: Causes of head and neck cancers (HNCs) are multifactorial, and few studies have investigated the association between chemical exposure and HNCs. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between HNCs, agricultural occupations, and pesticide exposure. The potential for the accumulation of pesticides in the adipose tissue of patients was also investigated.   Materi...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are one member of a class of chlorinated organic compounds which give rise to concern, because of their wide dispersal and persistence in the environment and tendency to accumulate in food chains, with possible adverse effects on animals at the top of the food webs, including man. In the past, attention has been concentrated on chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides...

BACKGROUND Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides, have been shown to have many adverse human health effects. These contaminants therefore may pose a risk to Alaska Natives that follow a traditional diet high in marine mammals and fish, in which POPs bioaccumulate. METHODS AND FINDINGS This study examined the levels of PCBs ...

Pesticide use and deposition of pesticide production residues contribute to environmental PCDD/PCDF contamination, in particular on a historical scale. Despite potentially substantial quantities of PCDD/PCDF emission, and remaining depositions via this route, only limited information is available on the resulting environmental contamination load or pathways. The total dioxin emission from the u...

Farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from Maine and eastern Canada, wild Alaskan Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and organically farmed Norwegian salmon samples were analyzed for the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin-like PCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzo-p-furans (PCDFs), and chlorinated pesticides. PCDD and PCDF congeners were not detected ...

Persistent organochlorine compounds and mercury (Hg) have been detected in numerous coastal organisms of the Aleutian archipelago of Alaska, yet sources of these contaminants are unclear. We collected glaucous-winged gulls, northern fulmars, and tufted puffins along a natural longitudinal gradient across the western and central Aleutian Islands (Buldir, Kiska, Amchitka, Adak), and an additional...