Giles Occupational Safety & Health, LLC    

From Gary Greenberg's Occ-Env-Medicine Listserve today:
 Study: PFCs lower tetanus, diphtheria immune response in
  kids
 http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/plague/news/jan2512newsscan.html

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), widely used in fast-food packaging, non-stick cookware, and  waterproof clothing, were associated with lowered immune responses to two  childhood vaccines, according to a study today in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA). ...

Analysis showed that PFC exposure was associated with antibody responses lower
than needed for long-term protection. Doubling of concentrations of three major
PFCs was associated with a 49% lower level of serum antibodies in children at
age 7 (95% confidence interval, 23%-67%). "We were surprised by the steep
negative associations, which suggest that PFCs may be more toxic to the immune
system than current dioxin exposures," said lead author Philippe Grandjean of
the Harvard School of Public Health in a Harvard news release. PFCs have
thousands of industrial uses, according to the release, and the concentrations
in the children studied were similar to or slightly below levels in US women and
lower than in US 3- to 5-year-olds.
 
Jan 25 JAMA abstract     Jan 24 Harvard press release

Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy
Academic Health Center    University of Minnesota
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http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/307/4/391.short