[Blood PCB Concentrations and their Tendencies Examined in Fukuoka 2011-2014 Annual Inspections for Yusho]

We measured PCBs of blood of 154 people in the Yusho medical check-up from January 2011 through December 2014 and analyzed their PCB blood patterns. Eleven examinees were newly certified as Yusho patients during these 4 years. Of these 11, we identified three Yusho patients with the A pattern, five with the B pattern, and three with the BC pattern. We found no Yusho patients with the C pattern. The B pattern was found in 27 of the 154 examinees, such that the probability that an examinee with the B pattern would be certified as a Yusho patient was about 20%. Since 2012, any family members living with a Yusho patient have also been certified as Yusho patients. The number of such family cohabitants was 16, among whom the PCB pattern was uniformly the C pattern. There were 20 examinees born after 1989, and all those examinees were Yusho-suspected persons. The total PCB concentrations of this younger-age group was less than 0.5 ng/g on average and was low compared with the normal controls.