International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 218 (2015) 41–46 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health jo u r n al homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijheh PCBs, PCDD/Fs, and PBDEs in blood samples of a rural population in South Germany Hermann Fromme a,∗ , Michael Albrecht b , Markus Appel b , Bettina Hilger a , Wolfgang Völkel a , Bernhard Liebl c , Eike Roscher a a Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Department of Chemical Safety and Toxicology, Pfarrstrasse 3, D-80538 Munich, Germany b Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Department of Pesticides, Contaminants, Nitrosamines, Radioactivity, Dioxins, Irradiation, Veterinaerstrasse 2, D-85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany c Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Veterinaerstrasse 2, D-85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 23 May 2014 Received in revised form 21 July 2014 Accepted 21 July 2014 Keywords: PBDE PCDD PCB Blood Exposure Biomonitoring a b s t r a c t The body burden of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), dioxin-like (dl- PCBs) and non-dioxin-like (ndl-PCBs) polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was determined in blood samples from 70 subjects between 4 and 76 years old. The participants of the study were recruited in the neighborhood of a reclamation plant located in a rural area in Southern Germany. The median concentrations (95th percentiles in parentheses), expressed as WHO 2005 -TEQ (toxic equiv- alents), for PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs were 4.5 (17.9) pg g -1 l.w. and 2.6 (13.2) pg g -1 l.w., respectively. The dl-PCBs contributed 40% of the total TEQ (median values), and the most abundant congener was PCB 156. Combined, the sum of the 6 non-dioxin-like PCBs had a median of 0.773 g L -1 and a 95th percentile of 4.895 g L -1 . For the six tetra to hepta PBDE congeners, the median was 1.8 ng g -1 l.w. (95th percentile: 16.2 ng g -1 l.w.). None of our study subjects had a body burden that exceeded the biomonitoring equiv- alents for dioxins or PBDE congener 99 or the human biomonitoring values for ndl-PCBs. Likewise the study group did not exceed German reference values or values obtained in similar investigations. Overall, our study did not exhibit elevated internal exposures. The results also hint further decreasing tendencies for PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PBDEs in Germany and demonstrates that people in the vicinity of a reclamation plant with no indication of an environmental contamination did not exhibit elevated internal exposures. © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Introduction Due to their persistence in the environment and biologi- cal systems, accumulation in the food chain, and toxicological properties, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are associated with sig- nificant environmental and health concerns. PCDD/Fs are not produced for industrial use, but they originate as unwanted and often unavoidable byproducts from a number of anthropogenic activities such as incomplete combustion processes and are distributed ubiquitously (EPA, 2003). In contrast, PCBs were produced in large quantities over the decades before their ban. Due ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 913168084265. E-mail address: hermann.fromme@lgl.bayern.de (H. Fromme). to their thermal stability and non-flammability, they were widely used as heat transfer fluids, hydraulic fluids, solvent extenders, flame retardants, and dielectric fluids. Both classes of substances are highly lipophilic with dermal, reproductive, developmental, and immunological effects observed in animal experiments and after occupational or accidental exposures (EPA, 2003; Chopra and Schrenk, 2011; Tsukimori et al., 2013). The so called dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs), which include some non-ortho- and mono-ortho- substituted PCBs, have biological activity similar to that of the PCDD/Fs which is mainly mediated via the aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor present in most tissues of living organisms (WHO, 2002). Long-term exposure to the aforementioned compounds is of par- ticular scientific and public concern because of their high toxicity and persistence. Another group of PCBs, referred to as non-dioxin-like poly- chlorinated biphenyls (ndl-PCB), was also part of formerly used technical mixtures (EFSA, 2005). Although they are found in higher http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2014.07.004 1438-4639/© 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.