EDITORIAL
Organochlorine compounds and thyroid dysfunction in children: is there a link with neurotoxicity?
Correspondence to:
Dr Leda Chatzi, Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Heraklion, 71003, Crete, Greece; lchatzi@med.uoc.gr
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Recent epidemiological and experimental studies have suggested that persistent organochlorine compounds (OCs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins may alter thyroid hormone levels in animals and humans. As neurological development occurs in discrete developmental windows, even transient disorders in thyroid hormone availability can have profound effects on brain development.1 Most studies have focused on the effects of prenatal exposure, but little evidence exists concerning the effects of exposure to OCs during childhood.
Further research on the latter is reported in a paper by Álvarez-Pedrerol et al in this issue (see page 452).2 Exposure to certain OCs such as dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (p,p'-DDT), β-hexachlorocylcohexane (β-HCH) and polychlorinated biphenyls (congeners PCB-138, PCB-153 and PCB-118) was related to lower total T3 levels in preschool children on the island of Menorca in Spain.
Persistent OCs include a variety of pesticides and herbicides that are highly lipophilic and are concentrated in adipose tissue.
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- Effects of PCBs, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, HCB and β-HCH on thyroid function in preschool children
- M Álvarez-Pedrerol, N Ribas-Fitó, M Torrent, D Carrizo, J O Grimalt, J Sunyer
Occup. Environ. Med. 2008 65: 452-457.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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