RESEARCH ARTICLE The Correlation between Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Thyroid Hormones in the General Population: A Meta- Analysis

Objective Certain epidemiological studies have suggested exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) affect the production and secretion of thyroid hormones (TH); however, conflicting results have been reported in different studies. There is not a convincing conclu-sion about this debate to date. Materials and Methods To perform a meta-analysis determining if there are correlations between PBDEs exposure and the serum levels of TH. Medical and scientific literature databases were searched for articles that met the eligibility criteria. The included articles were assessed for methodologi-cal quality. The correlation coefficient values or regression coefficient values between PBDEs and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or total thyroxine (TT4) from each article were used for analysis. Data Synthesis Sixteen articles were included in this meta-analysis. Pearson correlation coefficients (r