Musculoskeletal changes in children prenatally exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls and related compounds (Yu‐Cheng children)

Abstract

Fifty‐five Yu‐Cheng (oil‐disease) children born between 1978 and 1985 to mothers who ate PCB‐contaminated rice oil in 1978–1979 were studied and compared to age‐ and sex‐matched control subjects in 1991. The children's growth profiles, bone mineral density and soft tissue composition, joint laxity, and serum parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, and phosphate were compared. The Yu‐Cheng children were 3.1 cm (p < .05) smaller and had less total lean mass and soft tissue mass as compared to the matched control subjects. All other parameters studied were similar in both groups. The shorter height and decreased total lean mass and soft tissue content were only seen in the Yu‐Cheng children who were the first born after the ingestion, but not in subsequent children. This was most likely due to decreased body burdens of the PCBs and related contaminants over time in the mothers.