Neuropsychological effects of chronic low-dose exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): A cross-sectional study

Table 1 Demographic and exposure data of subjects exposed to PCB and of control subjects

	PCB		Controls
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	F[1,56]	p
Gender [N; m/f]	18/12		12/18		1.67¹	0.20
Age [a]	48.2	7	49.9	7	0.89	0.35
Education [a] ²	12.5	2	12.4	2	0.03	0.86
Vocational index ²	5.9	0	5.8	0	0.39	0.54
Estimated intelligence [IQ] ²	117.3	5	117.3	4	0.00	0.99
Height [cm]	174	8	169	7	1.91³	0.17
Weight [kg]	76	14	66	12	3.00³	0.09
BMI [kg/m²]	24.7	3	23.5	3	2.27³	0.14
Self-reported data
Alcohol consumption [g/week]	94.4	76	72.4	75	1.26	0.27
Nikotin consumption [cig./d]	6.4	10	5.7	10	0.07	0.79
Q16-Score ⁴	4.4	4	3.6	4	0.67	0.42
EQ Euroquest complaint score ⁴	146.4	32	131.6	31	3.29	0.07
Memory and attention	27.0	6	23.9	6	3.62	0.06
Drive and motivation	23.7	6	19.7	6	6.17	0.02	*
Tiredness	25.2	6	23.0	6	1.98	0.16
Emotional reactivity	20.0	6	17.7	6	2.41	0.13
Sensory complaints	8.1	3	7.4	3	0.65	0.42
Motor complaints	5.2	2	4.8	2	0.96	0.33
Cardiovascular complaints	14.8	5	12.0	5	4.76	0.03	*
Bowel and stomach	9.7	3	10.5	3	0.96	0.33
Head and neck	11.0	4	12.3	4	1.90	0.17
Stress inventory score ⁴	25.6	44	23.0	43	0.05	0.82
Exposure indices
PCB-28 [μg/l]	0.28	0.25	0.016 ⁵	0.02		0.0001	***
PCB-101 [μg/l]	0.07	0.09	0.01 ⁵	0		0.0003	***
PCB-138 [μg/l]	1.29	0.69	1.13	0.46	1.44	0.16
PCB-153 [μg/l]	1.68	0.96	1.56	0.58	1.07	0.29
PCB-180 [μg/l]	1.14	0.65	0.94	0.39	1.76	0.08
Total PCBs [μg/l]	4.45	2.44	3.65	1.40	1.87	0.067
Total occupational time [a]	20.9	6	22.0	9	1.09	0.28
Duration of exposure [a] ⁶	16.7	9	n.a.
Weighted duration of exposure [a] ^6,7	10.5	6	n.a.

ISSN: 1476-069X