University study finds toxic chemicals linked to diabetes

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University study finds toxic chemicals linked to diabetes

 

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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

 

 

BY JAMES T. MULDER

Newhouse News Service

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- PCBs, toxic chemicals found nearly everywhere on the

planet, may be fueling the diabetes epidemic, according to a study by SUNY

Upstate

Medical University researchers.

Preliminary findings of the study show the risk of developing diabetes is

four times higher among people ages 35 to 54 who are exposed to above-average

levels of polychlorinated biphenyls.

``I tend to be one of those scientists who says, `If there's smoke, we

should check out if there's a fire,''' said Allen Silverstone, one of three

researchers involved in the study. ``We found a fire here.''

Silverstone, Dr. Ruth Weinstock and Paula Rosenbaum studied the prevalence

of diabetes among residents of Anniston, Ala. PCBs were manufactured in

Anniston from 1929 until the early 1970s, and high levels of PCBs still exist

in

the community.

The federal government banned the manufacture and use of PCBs in 1976 for

any application that was not totally enclosed because of growing evidence of

their health and environmental risks. PCBs are believed to cause cancer.

Even though they are no longer made, PCBs are in the air, food, water and

soil. Many former industrial sites were polluted with these chemicals.

The number of people with diabetes worldwide has grown from 30 million to

more than 246 million over the past 20 years.

Much of the increase in diabetes has been blamed on the dramatic rise in

obesity. Silverstone and his colleagues, however, suspected an environmental

factor also was behind the diabetes surge.

The researchers obtained serum samples and physical measurements from 774

Anniston study participants. They found 35- to 54-year-old women were at much

higher risk of diabetes, even after factoring out other risk factors such as

obesity and family history of diabetes.

``People were stunned that there was so big of an effect,'' Silverstone

said.

He said scientists don't know yet why PCBs may make people more susceptible

to diabetes. He's hoping to do more research to answer that question. ``PCBs

could disturb the metabolism of sugars or modify the way cells respond,''

Silverstone said.

 

 

 

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