Environmental Health Criteria 214

HUMAN EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT
Some residents still catch and consume considerable amounts of local
fish and shellfish, particularly crabs, during summer and autumn. The
crabs contain high concentrations of PCDDs/Fs with a predominance of
tetra- and hexa-CDFs and PCB-209.
In the study by Johansen et al. (1996), 24 male crab consumers
were recruited non-randomly from news announcements and 10 controls
were drawn randomly from the population register. PCDDs/Fs and PCBs
were measured in blood samples. Information on crab and fish
consumption and intake of fatty food items were collected and the
fishing site reported. The study was designed to determine if
consumption of crabs from the contaminated fjord area led to increased
body burden of PCDDs/Fs and PCBs. From the patterns of PCDDs/Fs and
PCBs congeners in crabs, can congeners in blood be inferred sources?
Finally, can exposure estimates based on blood levels be predicted by
reported crab intake of location? A considerable increase of PCDDs/Fs
in blood was found upon consumption of contaminated crabs. A direct
relationship was found between blood level and the number of crabs
times contamination level. See Fig. 46 from Johansen et al. (1996).
The PCDD/F profile in the high intake group clearly reflected the
profile found in the crab hepatopancreas. PCB-209 does not appear to
be absorbed since it did not increase after crab consumption.
Using a simplified toxicokinetic calculation, good correlation
( r = 0.61) was reported between estimated yearly intake based on
blood values and intake based on reported intake and the fishing site.
The intake calculated for the controls was 9.7 pg TEQ/kg body weight
per week, in good agreement with estimated intake from food in Norway
(8-10 pg TEQ/kg body weight per week). The average exposures of the
moderate and high-intake groups were 31 (10-61) pg/kg body weight per
week and 62 (24-114) pg/kg body weight per week. Most individuals in
the high-intake group exceeded the recommended Nordic tolerable weekly
intake (TWI) of 35 pg/kg body weight per week
12.4.3 Exposure to volatile organic compounds and urinary metabolites
In Tokyo, Nakahama et al. (1997) measured personal VOC exposures
over 12 h and the metabolites in urine. Thirteen men and 17 women
participated. The VOCs 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene and
tetrachloroethylene were sampled with passive absorbent badges.
Trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid corrected for creatinine
were measured in urine. Personal exposures were well correlated
( r = 0.80) with urinary metabolites. Interestingly, women inhaled
twice as much VOCs as men, perhaps because of increased exposure to
household chemicals and cosmetics.
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