Effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins on growth and development

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins are potentially toxic compounds which occur widely in the environment. Their effects on the growth and development of infants at the levels currently found in highly industrialised western countries is not well known. This Dutch multicenter study, combining animal and human studies, tries to answer this question. Animal studies showed that PCB 169, given once during pregnancy at a dose of 1.8 g kg-1 bodyweight, has an effect on developmental parameters, dopamine regulation and fertility. Effects on thyroid hormones were also found in animals, probably due to both a competitive binding of PCB metabolites to the thyroxine binding protein and increased glucuronidation. Perhaps to compensate for this, an increased diodase activity in the brain was found. Human studies involved 400 mother-infant pairs, half of them being breast-fed, the other half were fed a formula devoid of PCBs and dioxins. PCB levels were measured in serum and dioxin and PCB levels in breastmilk. Levels were found to be as high as previously found in highly industrialised countries. Growth and development were carefully documented, but no data are as yet available. In pregnant women, a significant negative correlation was found between some dioxin and PCB congeners in milk and plasma thyroid hormones, while newborn infants showed higher thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) at higher levels of dioxin exposure. In summary, data from this combined multicenter study involving animals and humans increases our insight into the potentially negative effects of PCBs and dioxins on growth and development.