Fig. 1

Correlation of POPs in maternal serum. Chemicals included are those detected in more than 70% of the samples. Data are presented as Spearman’s rank correlation rho ranging from −1.0 (dark blue) to 1.0 (dark red). All correlations are significant (p < 0.001). Number of observations can be found in Table 2. Abbreviations: HCB - hexachlorobenzene; p,p´-DDE - dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; PCB – polychlorinated biphenyl