What We Learned from the Study of Exposed Population to PCBs and Pesticides

During previous fifteen years several field surveys were carried out in the large area subjected to environmental pollution by polychlorinated biphenyls and pesticides. The attention has been focused to the analyses of organochlorine (OCs) levels in environmental (superficial waters, air, soil, wildlife, foods) and human samples. Among adverse health effects the attention has been focused to thyroid volume and thyroid autoimmune disorders, pituitary-thyroid interrelations, metabolic disorders and diabetes in adults and to cognitive, behavioral and psychoneuromotoric disorders, impairment of hearing apparatus and dental defects in schoolchildren. Original data were obtained showing possible transgenerational transmission of certain adverse health effects possibly by previous prenatal and perinatal exposure of young adults to high organochlorine levels of their mothers. In participants from heavily polluted area with high blood organochlorine levels a significantly higher prevalence of adverse health signs was found compared to those from the area with considerably lower pollution. However, considerable attention was also paid to the problem of individual susceptibility to adverse health effects.