Associations between dietary exposure to dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and Longitudinal changes in weight and waist circumference– an EPIC study
Results obtained in this large prospective study show a positive association between dietary intake of both dioxins + DL-PCBs and NDL- PCBs and weight gain. Although the observed associations were small and there may be measurement errors, the consistency of these associations across multiple stratified analyses and sensitivity analyses strengthens the validity of the findings. The findings suggest that the effect of dioxins and PCBs are still present in the food chain despite regulatory bans. Efforts should be strengthened to reduce the exposure levels in the general population not only to lower the risk of obesity, but also to prevent various chronic conditions.
Authors
- Alex Christensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8508-8424)
- Matthias Bernd Schulze (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0830-5277)
- Lisa Padroni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9609-3681)
- F. Mancini
- Charlotte Le Cornet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-7545)
- Chloé Marques (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3203-7310)
- Josu Delfrade
- F. Artaud
- María Dolores Chirlaque López
- Christina C. Dahm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0481-2893)
- Lene Mellemkjær
- Antonio Agudo
- Vittorio Simeon
- Sara Grioni
- Pauline Frenoy
- Xuan Ren
- Eunate Abilleira
- Giovanna Masala
- Gianluca Severi
- Maria-José Sánchez
- Verena Katzke
- Elisabete Weiderpass
- Jeroen Berden
- Geneviève Nicolas
- Inge Huybrechts
- Julie Munk Andersen
Institutions
- Inserm (FR)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR)
- University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (IT)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Basque Government (ES)
- Institut Gustave Roussy (FR)
- Bellvitge University Hospital (ES)
- Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra (ES)
- Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations (FR)
- Institut Català d'Oncologia (ES)
- Servicio Murciano de Salud (ES)
- Danish Cancer Society (DK)
- Piedmont Reference Center for Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention (IT)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (ES)
- Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (IT)
- German Institute of Human Nutrition (DE)
- Centre international de recherche sur le cancer (FR)
- University of Turin (IT)
- Andalusian School of Public Health (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Clinical Nutrition
- Published
- 2026-03-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2026.106619
- Primary Topic
- Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00