Human Health Effects Associated with PCB Exposure, Page 1

Environmental Profile of PCBs in the Great Lakes

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HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH PCB EXPOSURE

Introduction | Health Effects of PCBs | Exposure to PCBs in Great Lakes | Health Effects in Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Health Effects of PCBs

The people most highly exposed to PCBs are workers handling PCB-containing equipment and those working in waste management facilities. The general population is exposed mainly through eating fatty foods, including dairy products, eggs, and fish such as lake trout and salmon. Breastfeeding babies are also exposed as the PCBs stored in the mother’s fatty tissues are mobilized and transferred into the milk fat during nursing.³ The rest of the information provided in this study focuses on the general population instead of workers.

The following parts of the population are more heavily exposed to PCBs than the general population: aboriginal peoples, anglers and hunters and their families, and subsistence groups that consume large amounts of fish and game. Special concern exists for the levels of PCBs in infants born to women in these groups and infants breast fed by women in these groups.⁴

Ninety percent of the PCBs ingested by humans in food are absorbed into the blood through the gastrointestinal tract. They are then distributed primarily to the liver and fatty tissues and organs. The main excretory routes for PCBs in humans are bile and breast milk.⁵

The human health effects from exposure to PCBs described by Health Canada include:

reproductive hazards to fetuses and new-born infants, including spontaneous abortion, low birth weight, congenital abnormalities, including natal teeth and gum and nail abnormalities, and edema of eyelids and face, conjunctivitis and nail changes;⁶
interference with immune system, including increased susceptibility to bacterial infections in breast-fed infants;⁷
impaired muscular strength and reflexes in infants, leading to developmental delays during infancy;⁸
fertility problems, including menstrual abnormalities and reduced sperm counts;⁹
increased breast and liver cancers.¹⁰

³ Dieter Riedel, Neil Tremblay and Edward Tompkins, State of Knowledge Report on Environmental Contaminants and Human Health in the Great Lakes Basin, 1997, p 61.

⁴Ibid., p. 65.

⁵Ibid., p. 31.

⁶Ibid., p. 84.

⁷Ibid., p. 107 & 168.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid., p. 124.

¹⁰ Ibid., p. 192.