Congener-Specific Tissue Distribution of Aroclor 1254 and a Highly Chlorinated Environmental PCB Mixture in Rats

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2005-05, Vol.39 (10), p.3513-3520
• Main Authors: Kania-Korwel, Izabela, Hornbuckle, Keri C, Peck, Aaron, Ludewig, Gabriele, Robertson, Larry W, Sulkowski, Wieslaw W, Espandiari, Parvaneh, Gairola, C. Gary, Lehmler, Hans-Joachim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - chemistry; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - metabolism; Chlorine; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 - metabolism; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2B1 - metabolism; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Hazardous Waste; Kidney - chemistry; Lipids - analysis; Liver - chemistry; Lung - chemistry; Male; Microsomes, Liver - enzymology; Multivariate analysis; Myocardium - chemistry; PCB; Poland; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - blood; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - isolation & purification; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Rodents; Skin - chemistry; Soil Pollutants - blood; Soil Pollutants - isolation & purification; Soil Pollutants - metabolism; Spleen - chemistry; Tissue Distribution
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es047987f

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixtures were synthesized and marketed in Eastern European countries, but little is known about their composition, distribution, or toxicity. PCB-contaminated soil from the former production site of the Polish PCB mixture Chlorofen was collected, and the PCBs were extracted. An in vivo study was performed to investigate the PCB tissue distribution and biochemical effects of this soil extract in immature male Sprague−Dawley rats. Rats were administered 0.05 mmol/kg soil-extracted PCBs or Aroclor 1254 and sacrificed 7 days later, and congener-specific PCB profiles in selected tissues were determined. Distribution of ΣPCBs (sum of 120 congeners) in tissues was primarily a function of lipid content of the tissues, except for the spleen, which retained more PCB than other tissues. Multivariate analysis of the PCB congener data showed that (a) congener profiles in tissues had changed, as compared to the parent mixture; (b) disposition and redistribution of individual congeners in vivo differed between both mixtures; and (c) more highly chlorinated congeners were retained in the spleens of both treatment groups. Differences in the induction of cytochrome P-450 1A and 2B subfamilies reflected the homologue composition of the respective mixtures and predict a different toxicity profile for Chlorofen than for Aroclor 1254.