Interesting and somewhat alarming study. Banned 3 decades ago, PCBs are still around to trouble us.
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Organochlorines in Carpet Dust and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Epidemiology. 16(4):516-525, July 2005.
Colt, Joanne S. *; Severson, Richard K. +; Lubin, Jay *; Rothman, Nat *;
Camann, David ++; Davis, Scott [S]; Cerhan, James R. [//]; Cozen, Wendy
[P]; Hartge, Patricia *
Abstract:
Background: The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has risen over
the past several decades. Reasons for this increase are largely
unexplained.
Methods: In this population-based case-control study, we examined NHL
risk and exposure to organochlorine compounds using concentrations in
carpet dust as an exposure indicator. We identified NHL cases,
uninfected with HIV, diagnosed between 1998 and 2000 among women and men
ages 20-74 years in Iowa, Los Angeles County, and the Detroit and
Seattle metropolitan areas. Controls were selected using
random-digit-dialing or Medicare files. Organochlorine concentrations
were measured in vacuum bag dust from 603 white cases and 443 white
controls who had owned most of their carpets for at least 5 years.
Results: NHL risk was elevated if any of the polychlorinated biphenyl
(PCB) congeners (PCBs 105, 138, 153, 170, or 180) was detected (odds
ratio = 1.5; 95% confidence interval = 1.2-2.0). Risk was elevated in
the top tertile of PCB 180 (1.7; 1.1-2.6) and in the top 2 tertiles of
total PCBs (middle tertile, 1.6 [1.1-2.4]; top tertile 1.5 [1.0-2.2]).
There was a positive trend in risk with increasing PCB 180 levels (P
trend = 0.03). NHL risk was elevated if dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene
(DDE) was detected (1.3; 1.0-1.7), but only among men. A positive, but
not monotonic, dose-response relationship was observed for DDE (P trend
= 0.02).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest an increased risk of NHL associated
with exposure to PCBs, with evidence of greater effects for PCB 180.
There is also some evidence of an association with DDE.