Temporal trends in serum concentrations of polychlorinated dioxins, furans, and PCBs among adult women living in Chapaevsk, Russia: a longitudinal study from 2000 to 2009.

Background: The present study assessed the temporal trend in serum concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls (PCBs) among residents of a Russian town where levels of these chemicals are elevated due to prior industrial activity.

Methods: Two serum samples were collected from eight adult women (in 2000 and 2009), and analyzed with gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Results: The average total toxic equivalency (TEQ) decreased by 30% (from 36 to 25 pg/g lipid), and the average sum of PCB congeners decreased by 19% (from 291 to 211 ng/g lipid).

Contamination of Russian Baltic fish by polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and dioxin-like biphenyls.

Nineteen species of fish products caught and produced in the Russian economic zone of the Baltic region in 2002-2005 were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like biphenyls (WHO-PCBs). Freshwater fish had significantly lower PCDD/PCDFs levels than most saltwater fish, except cod's fillet for which TEQ was comparable. In some cases pollutant levels of sea fish tissues essentially exceeded current regulatory values.