Contaminant profiles in Southeast Asian immigrants consuming fish from polluted waters in northeastern Wisconsin.

Recent immigrants to the USA from Southeast Asia may be at higher risk of exposure to fish-borne contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p, p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene (DDE) and methylmercury (MeHg) because of their propensity to engage in subsistence fishing. Exposure to contaminants was assessed in men and women of Hmong descent living in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Fox River and lower Green Bay are contaminated with PCBs, and to a lesser extent with mercury. Serum samples from 142 people were analyzed for PCBs and p,p'-DDE by capillary column gas chromatography with electron capture detection (ECD).

A longitudinal examination of factors related to changes in serum polychlorinated biphenyl levels.

Consumption of sport-caught fish from the Great Lakes is a recognized source of human exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Understanding temporal changes in PCB body burden is crucial for evaluating exposure levels and augmenting validity of studies investigating their relationship to adverse health effects. Using data collected from 1980 to 1995, we evaluated longitudinal changes in serum PCB levels among 179 fisheaters and non-fisheaters of the Michigan Fisheater Cohort.