Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
more. than. 2000. people. occurred. in. central. Taiwan. due. to. consumption. of.
rice-bran.oil.contaminated.with.polychlorinated.biphenyls.(PCBs).and.their.
heat-degraded. by-product. (Guo. et. al.. 1997).. In. North. Vietnam,. a. study. in.
1994. showed. that. the. serum. level. of. DDT. in. urban. dwellers. (32.3.ng/mL).
was.threefold.higher.than.in.the.rural.residents.(11.7.ng/mL),.suggesting.the.
major. route. of. DDT. exposure. was. through. the. ingestion. of. contaminated.
foods,.such. as.fatty.meats.and.poultry.(Schecter.et. al..1997).. In. addition,. it.
has.been.reported.that.consumption.of.fatty.ish.is.the.main.exposure.route.
for.POPs.(Grimvall.et.al..1997,.Hu.et.al..2009,.Järnberg.et.al..1997,.Svensson.
et.al..1995)..In.1997,.the.dioxin.episode.in.Belgium.has.led.to.Europe's.worst.
food.contamination.crisis.since.mad.cow.disease..The.original.source.of.the.
contamination. that. entered. the. food. chain. in. Belgium. now. appears. to. be.
wastes.of.POPs.(i.e.,.PCB.oils),.which.have.possibly.been.illegally.disposed.of.
and.found.their.way.into.food.oils.
It.is.known.that.these.chemicals.affect.growth.and.development,.immune.
function,. neurological. function,. reproduction,. and. induce. mutations. and.
cancers.(Langer.et.al..2009,.Li.et.al..2006,.Safe.and.Zacharewski.1997,.White.
et. al.. 1994)..The. levels. of.chemical. contaminants.detected. in. human.breast.
milk. are. of. particular. concern. because. of. the. potential. health. risk. to. the.
nursing. baby. (LaKind. et. al.. 2008).. During. the. lactation. period,. PCB. trans-
fer. via. breast. milk. was. shown. to. lower. the. body. pollutant. burden. of. the.
mother. but.cause. a.simultaneous.increase. in. the.body. pollutant. burden.of.
the. infant. (Duarte-Davidson. and. Jones. 1994).. More. importantly,. the. detec-
tion.of.the.pollutants.in.human.milk.and.placenta.samples.revealed.the.risk.
of.pollutant.transfer.from.mothers.to.infants.(Chan.et.al..2007,.Doucet.et.al..
2009,.Wong.et.al..2005)..Developmental,.neurological,.musculoskeletal,.and.
behavioral.abnormalities.have.been.documented.in.the.children.born.after.
their.mother's.consumption.of.PCB/PCDF-contaminated.rice.oil.(Chen.and.
Hsu.1994,.Guo.et.al..1994a,b,.Honda.et.al..2009,.Kanagawa.et.al..2008,.Lai.et.al..
1994,.Tsukimori.et.al..2008).
EnvironmentalPollutionandReproductiveHealth
It. is. generally. believed. that. the. exposure. to. environmental. pollutants. is.
one.of.the.culprits.behind.reproductive.problems.worldwide..This.relation-
ship.has.long.been.established.on.the.basis.of.the.body.pollutant.burdens'.
association.with.reproductive.dysfunction.as.found.in.wildlife,.animal,.and.
human. studies.. Adverse. biological. effects. on. male. reproductive. function.
were.irst.reported.in.wild.animals,.whereas.an.accidental.exposure.to.estro-
genic.pollutants.caused.feminization.or.changes.in.reproductive.behavior.in.
the.animals.(Vos.et.al..2000)..For.example,.in.the.1980s,.the.adult.male.alliga-
tors.in.Apopka.Lake.that.were.exposed.to.agricultural.wastes.produced.low.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search