Levels of organochlorine pesticides and PCB congeners in Korean human tissues

Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been used intensively in agriculture and industry for a long time. They belong to a group of contaminants whose occurrence in the environment is a serious concern to environmental chemists and toxicologists due to their resistance to degradation in the environment as well as their potential toxicity. Also. the lipophilic characteristics of these substances are responsible for their ability to bioaccumulate in tissues and organs rich in lipids of men and animals through food chain. Therefore, the measure of the levels of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in human tissues are good markers in detemining the extent to exposure and evaluating the hazards. This study was preformed to compare concentrations of organochlorine pesticides(${\alpha}-BHC, {\beta}-BHC, {\gamma}-BHC, {\delta}-BHC$, p.p'-DDT,p.p'-DDD,p.p.'-DDE. endrin. dieldrin. aldrin) and seven marker PCBs(PCB nos. 28. 52. 101. 118. 138. 153. 180) in liver. kidney cortex, lung blood and adipose tissue collected at autopsies of 10men and 10 women using gas chromatography equipped with electron capture detector to express the data on a lipid adjusted basis. From the results, the significant differences in the levels of organochlorines of PCBs between sexes, districts where they had lived and ages were also investigated.