Indiana University, EPA to study air...( falo N.Y.; and Toronto. Hites and Basu...)

IADN will help determine how much of the airborne PCBs fall and dissolve into the Great Lakes. Once in the water, PCBs accumulate or "bioconcentrate" in some Great Lakes fish to concentrations that are thousands to millions of times higher than PCB concentrations in the water surrounding the fish. The bioconcentration of PCBs in Great Lakes fish has led to widespread consumption advisories issued by both the EPA and Environment Canada. Humans' main exposure to PCBs is the consumption of contaminated fish.

PCBs are classified as "probable human carcinogens" by the EPA and as "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. PCBs are known to be toxic to humans. PCBs also take a long time to degrade naturally. In spite of the fact that their U.S. production ceased in 1977, PCBs persist throughout the country.

"Their concentrations are indeed declining, but fairly slowly," Hites said. "In fact, it's only through the long-term IADN project that we've been able to establish any decrease of atmospheric PCB concentrations."

Hites, an expert on environmental toxins, co-authored a Science report in January that showed that PCBs and other toxins exist at high levels in much of the world's farmed salmon. The scientists found that wild salmon tended to be less contaminated.

Another study, published last year in the National Institutes of Health journal Environmental Health Perspectives and co-authored by Hites and IU School of Medicine scientist Robert Bigsby, showed that polybrominated diphenyl ether levels are elevated in the blood of mothers and their infants. These compounds are commonly used as flame retardants. The IU study has been referenced numerous times by
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Contact: David Bricker
brickerd@indiana.edu
812-856-9035
Indiana University
27-Sep-2004