Paradoxical increases in serum levels of highly chlorinated PCBs in aged women in clear contrast to robust decreases in dietary intakes from 1980 to 2003 in Japan

Koizumi, Akio; Harada, Kouji H.; Eslami, Bita; Fujimine, Yoshinori; Hachiya, Noriyuki; Hirosawa, Iwao; Inoue, Kayoko; Inoue, Sumiko; Koda, Shigeki; Kusaka, Yukinori; Murata, Katsuyuki; Omae, Kazuyuki; Saito, Norimitsu; Shimbo, Shinichiro; Takenaka, Katsunobu; Takeshita, Tatsuya; Todoriki, Hidemi; Wada, Yasuhiko; Watanabe, Takao; Ikeda, Masayuki

doi:10.1007/s12199-009-0089-6

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine

Table 3 Time era- and age-specific total PCB and congener concentrations in serum

From: Paradoxical increases in serum levels of highly chlorinated PCBs in aged women in clear contrast to robust decreases in dietary intakes from 1980 to 2003 in Japan

Survey year	1980			1995			2003			Total
Age (years)	<40	40–50	>50	<40	40–50	>50	<40	40–50	>50
Birth year (group)	1946 (group C)	1936 (group B)	1924 (group A)	1957 (group D)	1950 (group C)	1934 (group B)	1972 (group E)	1958 (group D)	1948 (group C)
No.	17	12	10	2^a	17	21	59	22	9	169
Total PCBs (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	185 (1.8)	170 (1.4)	125 (1.7)	83 (2.3)	128 (2.0)	164 (1.9)	68 (1.8)A	110 (1.6)B	242 (1.7)C*	113 (2.0)
Range	60–414	97–306	55–282	46–148	42–714	67–895	18–282	49–221	84–570	18–895
Q1	105	118	76	–	72	95	43	68	191	66
Q2	195	180	128	–	115	163	65	112	236	114
Q3	311	220	175	–	181	222	106	157	356	182
#	a	ns	ns	–	ns	ns	b	ns	ns
CB-74 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	18 (1.9)	17 (2.0)	12 (1.9)	5.4 (2.0)	7.4 (1.9)	11 (2.1)	3.0 (1.9)A	4.8 (1.7)B	11 (1.8)C*	6.5 (2.5)
Range	6.0–40	6.2–40	7.3–67	3.4–8.8	2.6–33	3.0–51	0.8–12	2.0–12	3.8–29	0.8–67
Q1	10.7	8.8	8.1	–	4.4	6.8	1.9	2.8	8.1	3.3
Q2	17	15	10.5	–	7.1	11	3.0	5.3	9.4	6.6
Q3	33	35	12	–	12	18	5.0	7.6	19	12
#	a	a	ns	–	b	ns	b	b	ns
CB-99 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	10.0 (1.9)	9.2 (1.5)	5.9 (1.6)	4.1 (1.8)	5.0 (2.2)	6.0 (2.0)	2.8 (1.8)A	3.9 (1.8)A	7.4 (2.1)B*	4.7 (2.2)
Range	2.9–26	4.7–16	3.6–18	2.7–6.1	1.1–35	1.2–29	0.9–13	0.9–9.8	1.8–22	0.90–35
Q1	5.6	6.3	4.6	–	3.0	3.7	1.7	2.7	4.4	2.7
Q2	10.6	9.2	4.9	–	4.1	6.2	2.5	4.4	7.9	4.7
Q3	18	13	7.5	–	8.6	8.7	4.4	5.7	13	7.9
#	a	a	ns	–	b	ns	b	b	ns
CB-118 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	26 (2.0)	22 (1.3)	17 (1.8)	8.8 (1.7)	12 (2.1)	14 (2.1)	5.8 (1.8)A	8.9 (1.6)B	17 (2.1)C*	10.7 (2.2)
Range	8.4–64	15–37	8.6–53	6.0–13	3.7–107	3.5–79	1.8–16	3.3–17	4.8–56	1.8–107
Q1	13	16	10.8	–	8.2	10.2	3.7	5.8	10.1	5.8
Q2	28	23	15	–	10.9	14	5.6	10.2	18	10.9
Q3	52	28	23	–	17	20	9.1	13	31	16
#	a	a	ns	–	b	ns	b	b	ns
CB-138 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	24 (1.9)	23 (1.4)	15 (1.6)	11 (2.1)	15 (2.1)	19 (2.0)	8.3 (1.8)A	13 (1.7)B	27 (1.8)C*	14 (2.1)
Range	7.8–84	13–45	7.5–33	6.3–18	4.6–121	7.2–167	2.3–31	4.0–27	8.9–64	2.3–167
Q1	13	16	11	–	9.2	12	5.4	8.1	20	7.9
Q2	24	24	15	–	13	18	7.8	14	23	14
Q3	42	29	22	–	24	23	12	20	42	22
#	a	a	ns	–	ab	ns	b	b	ns
CB-146 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	6.1 (1.8)	6.0 (1.4)	4.2 (1.7)	3.1 (2.3)	5.1 (2.1)	6.6 (2.0)	2.6 (2.0)A	4.3 (1.7)B	9.7 (1.8)C*	4.2 (2.1)
Range	2.2–18	3.3–12	1.8–7.3	1.7–5.6	1.7–32	2.5–45	0.5–13	1.5–11	2.8–22	0.5–45
Q1	3.2	4.4	2.6	–	2.9	3.5	1.6	2.9	7.5	2.6
Q2	6.5	5.9	4.9	–	4.7	6.3	2.5	4.4	9.9	4.5
Q3	9.6	8.0	7.1	–	7.4	9.5	4.5	6.2	15	7.2
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	ab	b	ns	b
CB-153 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	41 (1.8)	40 (1.4)	28 (1.6)	21 (2.3)	33 (2.1)	42 (2.0)	19 (1.9)A	30 (1.6)B	65 (1.7)C*	29 (2.0)
Range	15–115	25–81	11–53	12–39	11–188	18–295	4.9–85	12–64	23–152	4.9–295
Q1	24	28	18	–	20	24	12	19	50	18
Q2	40	41	29	–	32	39	18	30	65	29
Q3	65	51	43	–	46	57	28	43	95	47
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	ab	b	ns	b
CB-156 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	5.4 (2.0)	4.7 (1.4)	3.4 (1.6)	2.7 (2.6)	4.3 (2.3)	5.2 (2.0)	1.9 (2.0)A	3.3 (1.7)B	8.1 (1.8)C*	3.3 (2.2)
Range	1.9–18	2.6–08	1.5–6.6	1.4–5.4	1.7–48	1.7–39	0.3–6.8	1.5–7.0	2.7–19	0.3–48
Q1	3.0	3.6	2.3	–	2.2	3.4	1.1	1.8	5.8	1.9
Q2	5.0	4.9	3.7	–	3.8	5.0	1.9	3.6	8.4	3.6
Q3	9.1	6.3	5.3	–	6.5	7.5	3.1	4.6	12	5.5
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	ab	b	ns	b
CB-163 & 164 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	10.3 (1.9)	10.3 (1.4)	7.2 (1.6)	4.9 (2.3)	8.2 (2.2)	10.7 (2.0)	4.1 (2.0)A	6.9 (1.6)B	16 (1.7)C*	6.9 (2.1)
Range	3.4–34	6.6–20	3.0–13	2.7–9.0	2.9–60	4.1–92	0.8–17	3.0–15	5.2–31	0.8–92
Q1	5.3	7.2	4.4	–	4.5	6.9	2.5	4.6	13	4.1
Q2	10.2	10.8	7.8	–	7.8	9.2	4.1	7.0	16	7.4
Q3	18	14	11	–	12	17	7.7	9.4	25	11
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	ab	b	ns	b
CB-170 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	5.8 (1.7)	5.0 (1.4)	4.1 (1.7)	3.4 (2.8)	5.2 (2.0)	6.3 (1.8)	2.8 (1.9)A	5.1 (1.5)B	11 (1.6)C*	4.4 (2.0)
Range	1.9–11	2.8–10	1.5–6.9	1.6–6.9	2.2–22	2.2–23	0.5–12	2.6–10	4.3–22	0.5–23
Q1	3.5	3.5	2.5	–	2.7	3.9	1.9	3.3	9.4	2.7
Q2	6.0	5.3	5.1	–	4.8	6.1	2.9	5.5	10.6	4.9
Q3	9.4	6.0	5.9	–	8.2	10.2	5.0	6.7	16	6.8
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	a	b	ns	b
CB-180 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	21 (1.7)	19 (1.5)	16 (1.8)	12 (2.9)	19 (1.9)	24 (1.8)	11 (1.9)A	20 (1.5)B	46 (1.6)C*	17 (2.0)
Range	7.3–42	10.3–39	5.7–28	5.9–26	7.6–74	8.7–69	2.8–49	10.4–44	20–101	2.8–101
Q1	14	13	8.6	–	10.2	16	7.2	15	35	10.6
Q2	24	19	20	–	17	23	10.7	20	46	19
Q3	31	25	25	–	31	42	20	28	59	26
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	a	b	ns	b
CB-182 & 187 (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	10.0 (1.7)	9.6 (1.5)	7.2 (1.7)	5.1 (2.7)	8.6 (1.9)	11 (1.9)	5.3 (2.0)A	9.3 (1.7)B	21 (1.9)C*	8.0 (2.0)
Range	3.7–20	5.4–23	2.8–12	2.5–10.3	2.7–39	4.9–42	0.9–32	3.1–27	6.0–58	0.9–58
Q1	6.5	6.5	4.1	–	5.1	6.4	3.5	7.2	15	4.9
Q2	10.2	9.6	9.2	–	8.7	11	5.2	8.9	21	8.7
Q3	16	12	11	–	14	18	9.7	13	31	13
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	a	b	ns	b
Penta CBs (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	55 (1.9)	50 (1.5)	27 (1.8)	18 (1.8)	25 (2.1)	32 (2.0)	12 (1.8)A	18 (1.6)B	36 (2.0)C*	22 (2.3)
Range	17–122	26–86	10–47	12–28	7.4–175	8.8–126	3.6–36	6.3–35	10.4–108	3.6–175
Q1	29	33	15	–	16	22	7.2	10.9	23	11
Q2	68	47	34	–	23	35	11	19	38	23
Q3	101	76	42	–	39	46	18	26	63	36
#	a	a	ns	–	b	ns	b	b	ns
Hexa CBs (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	87 (1.9)	84 (1.4)	58 (1.6)	43 (2.3)	66 (2.1)	84 (2.0)	36 (1.9)A	57 (1.6)B	127 (1.7)C*	58 (2.0)
Range	30–265	52–164	25–113	24–77	22–448	35–636	8.9–153	22–119	43–282	8.9–636
Q1	48	58	38	–	39	48	23	34	99	35
Q2	87	89	59	–	61	79	33	56	129	56
Q3	145	106	89	–	93	109	54	83	192	92
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	ab	b	ns	b
Hepta CBs (ng/g lipid)
GM (GSD)	37 (1.7)	34 (1.5)	35 (1.8)	21 (2.8)	33 (1.9)	42 (1.8)	19 (1.9)A	35 (1.6)B	78 (1.6)C*	30 (2.0)
Range	13–70	19–71	20–138	10–43	13–131	16–134	4.2–94	18–76	31–181	4.2–181
Q1	24	23	23	–	18	27	13	24	63	18
Q2	39	35	30	–	30	39	19	35	75	34
Q3	58	44	42	–	53	70	35	45	106	45
#	a	ns	a	–	ns	a	b	ns	b

GM geometric mean, GSD geometric standard deviation, Q1 25th percentile, Q2 median, Q3 75th percentile
^aThis group was excluded from statistical comparison due to small number participants
* There were significant differences among the three age groups within the same survey year (p < 0.05 by Tukey’s HSD test). Values with a different capital letter differ significantly from each other. For example, a value indicated by A differs from the corresponding values indicated by B or C
^#Comparison among the three surveys within the same age group. Values with a different lower-case letter differ significantly from each other

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