Environ Sci Technol Lett

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and persistent pesticides have been measured in serum pools from participants 3-5, 6-11, 12-19, 20-39, 40-59, and \ue2\u2030\ua560 years of age from the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. For 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE-47), the unweighted (not adjusted for sampling weights) arithmetic mean concentration (\uc2\ub195% confidence interval) was 3.4 times higher in 3-5-year-olds (216 \uc2\ub1 30 ng/g of lipid) than in 12-19-year-olds (64 \uc2\ub1 11 ng/g of lipid), with no apparent change with increasing age for adults \ue2\u2030\ua520 years of age. By contrast, unweighted arithmetic mean concentrations of traditional persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and 2,2',3,3',4,4',5,5'-octachlorobiphenyl (PCB194) were 2- and 20-fold higher, respectively, in persons \ue2\u2030\ua560 years than in 12-19-year-old adolescents. Findings suggest higher exposures to PBDEs but lower exposures to traditional POPs in 3-5-year-old children than in adults.CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2016-12-06T00:00:00Z27933302PMC513990