Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2025

Author Spotlight: In Vivo Assessment of Thyroid Hormone Disruption Using the THAI Mouse Model
Published on: October 6, 2023
Short-Chain Polychlorinated Alkanes Exposure and Risk of Thyroid Cancer in a Population-Based Case-Control Study
Mei Liu1,2, Xiaoling Guan3, Lingling Meng4
1State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
Abstract:
Exposure to short-chain polychlorinated alkanes (PCAs-C10-13) can disturb thyroid homeostasis, warranting an in-depth analysis of their relationship with thyroid risk and related clinical parameters. This study recruited and obtained serum samples from 478 participants in Shandong, China, including 240 thyroid cancer patients and 238 healthy controls. PCAs-C10 presented as the predominant homologues in both case and control groups. PCAs-C10-13 exposure displayed an essential role in thyroid cancer risk, in which a nonlinear dose-risk relationship was observed for PCAs-C10-13, with PCAs-C12 and PCAs-C13 exhibiting significantly reduced risks (odds ratios < 1) for thyroid cancer. Specific PCAs-C10-13 homologues were significantly associated with triglycerides, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total lipid in the control group. Weighted quantile sum regression and Bayesian kernel machine regression revealed predominantly negative combined effects of PCAs-C10-13 exposure on thyroid cancer, thyroid hormone, and serum lipid parameters. Our results showed that exposure to the current environmental level of PCAs-C10-13 cannot heighten risks of thyroid cancer. Overall, this study first provides epidemiological evidence on the potential implications of PCAs-C10-13 exposure and thyroid cancer risk.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
Radical Substitution: Halogenation of Alkanes and Alkyl Substituents
In the initiation step of the reaction, the chlorine molecule undergoes homolytic cleavage in the presence of light or heat, forming two highly reactive chlorine radicals. Propagation occurs in two...
Alkyl Halides
Alkyl halides are halogen-substituted alkanes wherein one or more hydrogen atoms of an alkane is replaced by a halogen atom such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine. The carbon atom in an alkyl halide is bonded to the halogen atom, which is sp3-hybridized and exhibits a tetrahedral shape.
Unlike alkyl halides, compounds in which a halogen atom is bonded to an sp2 -hybridized carbon atom of a carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) are called vinyl halides. Whereas aryl...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Radical Substitution: Allylic Chlorination
Cancer Prevention
Some...

