| In the summer of 1973 polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) were accidentally released in large quantities in the environment and as a result some Michigan residents consumed PBB-contaminated farm products for about eight months. A cohort was assembled at the time and cohort members were followed until today. We are interested to verify whether there is a relation between PBB exposure and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.; Our study population included 1,478 subjects from the Michigan PBB cohort, chosen after a careful selection process. PBB serum determinations were available for all of them. We relied on information from three previously conducted surveys in order to assess type 2 diabetes incidence and to obtain information on several confounders (age, gender, body mass index, smoking and drinking status). All variables in our model were categorical, and our exposure variable had four levels: ≤1 parts per billion (ppb), >1--3 ppb, >3--5 ppb, and >5 ppb.; Results from our analysis show an increase in type 2 diabetes incidence in women in the >3--≤5 ppb PBB group. PBB serum levels were inversely correlated with the body mass index in women. Also, smoking was weakly associated with an increased diabetes incidence in men. |
