EnvironmentalResearch138(2015)1–7

Associations oforganochlorinepesticidesandpolychlorinated biphenylswithtotal,cardiovascular,andcancermortalityinelders with differingfatmass

Se-A Kim a,b,c, Ki-SuKim a, Yu-MiLee a, DavidR.Jacobs d, Duk-HeeLee a,b,c,n
 

a b s t r a c t

Background: Weinvestigatedifcertainpersistentorganicpollutants(POPs),namelypolychlorinated
biphenyls(PCBs)andorganochlorine(OC)pesticides,predictedtotal,cardiovasculardisease(CVD),and
cancer mortalityamongtheelderly,withthehypothesisthatassociationsdifferbytheamountoffat
mass.

Methods: Westudiedserumconcentrationsof11PCBsin633elders(ageZ70 years)andof5OCpes-
ticides in675elderswithintheNationalHealthandNutritionExaminationSurvey(NHANES)1999–2004.
Mean follow-upwas4.1-years.

Results: NeitherPCBsnorOCpesticideswereassociatedwithtotalmortalitywhenfatmasswasnot
considered inanalyses.However,associationsofPCBsandOCpesticideswithtotalmortalitydepended
on fatmass(Pinteractiono0.01and0.06,respectively).PCBsassociatedinverselywithtotalmortalityfor
high fatmass,butnotforlowerfatmass.Onthecontrary,OCpesticidesassociatedpositivelywithtotal
mortality forlowfatmassandthisassociationweakenedathigherfatmass.Theinteractionwasalso
observed withCVDmortality.Inelderswithlowfatmass,higherPCBsassociatedwith2–3 foldhigher
risk ofCVDmortality,whilethisassociationwasabsentinelderswithmorefatmass(Pinteraction¼0.03).
The positiveassociationbetweenOCpesticidesandCVDmortalitywasalsoobservedonlyamongelderly
with lowfatmass(Pinteraction¼0.03).

Conclusions: The possibilityofinteractionbetweenPOPsandtheamountoffatmassonriskofmortality
from chronicdiseasesisclinicallyimportantinmodernsocietieswithanobesityepidemicandrequires
confirmation inotherstudieswithlargersamplesize.