The human population — An ultimate receptor for aquatic contaminants

✍ Scribed by Harold E. B. Humphrey

• Book ID: 104623428
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 372 KB
• Volume: 149
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5141
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00048648

✦ Synopsis

Human consumption of sport-caught fish represents a significant route of exposure to aquatic chemical contaminants. To investigate this, a cohort of Michigan residents was established and evaluated in 1974 and 1981. PCB, DDT and DDE concentrations dominated the eleven contaminants found in participant blood specimens. Those who regularly ate Lake Michigan fish had serum PCB levels up to 30 times greater than those who did not eat these fish. Serum levels briefly increased following each fish meal, correlated with annual fish consumption and correlated with the number of years fish had been consumed. Some homologs of PCB found at elevated levels in fisheaters have toxic properties. It appears that the human population can be a final receptor for persistent toxic chemical contaminants found in the environment.