Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

The EHP 1999 paper describes for the first time occupational exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in a setting not previously associated with exposure to PBDEs. The work environment investigated was a recycling plant for electronics goods. Further, the presence of decabromodiphenyl ether was for the first time identified and quantified in human samples. This PBDE congener has previously been considered not to be bioavailable due to its high molecular mass.

  Does it describe a new discovery or new methodology that's useful to others?

The paper describes occupational exposure, which previously had not been studied, and the identification of decabromodiphenyl ether that has been considered to be non-bioavailable.

  Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

In the EHP 1999 paper we studied occupational exposure to PBDEs by means of serum sampling from employees working in a recycling plant for electronics. Their work involved dismantling of the electronics into several groupings such as plastics, metals, circuit boards and electronic components. These workers serum levels were compared to a control group comprised of hospital cleaning staff.

The findings of this study were that significantly higher concentrations of PBDE were determined in the recycling workers than in the control population. The most elevated congeners in the recycling workers had a bromine content of 7 to 10 bromine atoms, while the control population, as well as other studies performed on wild life and humans, has reported the lower brominated 2,2', 4,4-tetrabromodiphenyl ether as the dominating congener. This further emphasized that the exposure routes for these workers do indeed differ from that of other populations.

  Also, for the first time, decabromodiphenyl ether was identified and quantified in humans, this congener had previously been considered to be non-bioavailable.

This study has been followed up by additional studies showing on air concentrations in the recycling plant and other reference environments. The half-life of decabromodiphenyl ether has also been estimated and this information is available in my thesis but has not yet been published in a scientific journal, since additional experiments are being conducted to certify the half-life estimated. Interestingly, the half-life of decabromodiphenyl ether is short in the range of weeks.

  How did you become involved in this research?

This work was a part of my Ph.D. thesis, which was focused on human exposure to PBDEs.

Andreas Sjodin, Research Chemist
Center for Disease Control,
Atlanta, Ga.

Related links:

Jon B. Manchester-Neesvig, Ph.D. answers a few questions about his Fast Breaking Paper in the field of Environment/Ecology (August 2002 Fast Breaking Papers) titled "Comparison of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Lake Michigan salmonids."