BLOOD-SERUM LEVELS OF PCDFS AND PCBS IN YU-CHENG CHILDREN PERI-NATALLY EXPOSED TO A TOXIC RICE OIL

Children secondarily exposed through their mothers to a toxic rice oil containing PCDFs and PCBs in the Yu-Cheng incident have shown developmental delay even a decade after the incident. Forty-five serum samples were collected from these children in February 1991 and small amounts analyzed for their contaminant content using sample enrichment and isotope dilution mass spectrometry. In about one-half the samples, detectable levels of PCDFs and PCBs could still be determined with average values for 2,3,4,7,8-PnCDF and 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDF of 300 and 620 ng/kg serum lipid, respectively. The mean of the total PCBs on a whole weight basis was 7.5 mu g/kg. These concentrations of PCDFs and PCBs are still 10 to 25 times higher than those from a matched control population. Although the serum levels did not correlate with developmental delays, those for the two PCDFs but not the total PCBs correlated with duration of breast feeding indicative of postnatal exposure. The results of this study suggest that estimation of past prenatal exposure of children to PCDFs is best carried out using current mother and not current child blood concentrations.