There is now strong evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are major risk factors for type 2 diabetes. While the mechanisms involved are not known with any certainty, the associations between development of type 2 diabetes and blood concentrations of POPs are stronger than those for almost any other factor, including obesity. Some studies have suggested that obesity is in fact not a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and that it is rather all of the POPs that are in the animal fats that are often consumed in excess that is really the risk factor.

However almost nothing is known about any possible involvement of PCBs and other persistent organics as factors contributing to type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a quite different disease than type 2, but they do have some things in common. Our proposal is to begin investigation of the possible role of POPs in type 1 diabetes by obtaining measurement of concentrations of PCBs in the pancreas of individuals with type 1 diabetes as compared to controls and those with type 2 diabetes. PCBs will be used as an indicator POP. All POPs are fat soluble and are found almost exclusively in the fat component of human tissues. The pancreas, like every other organ, has some fat cells, and there are fats in the membranes of the beta cells that normally produce insulin. One possibility is that there is excessive accumulation of POPs including PCBs in the pancreas in causes of type 1 diabetes. This will be tested by direct determination of the PCB concentrations in tissues obtained through the nPOD project.