The Correlation between Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Thyroid Hormones in the General Population: A Meta-Analysis

Xuemin Zhao, Hailong Wang, Jing Li, Zhongyan Shan, Weiping Teng and Xiaochun Teng

PLOS ONE, 2015, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Objective: Certain epidemiological studies have suggested exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) affect the production and secretion of thyroid hormones (TH); however, conflicting results have been reported in different studies. There is not a convincing conclusion about this debate to date. Materials and Methods: To perform a meta-analysis determining if there are correlations between PBDEs exposure and the serum levels of TH. Medical and scientific literature databases were searched for articles that met the eligibility criteria. The included articles were assessed for methodological quality. The correlation coefficient values or regression coefficient values between PBDEs and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or total thyroxine (TT4) from each article were used for analysis. Data Synthesis: Sixteen articles were included in this meta-analysis. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were directly collected or calculated from data given in the articles. Then, Fisher’s z transformation was performed to convert each correlation coefficient to an approximately normal distribution. For z values between PBDEs exposure and TSH levels, the pooled z value for 18 studies was 0.08 (95% CI: -0.06, 0.22), and indicated significant heterogeneity (I2 values = 90.7%). Subgroup analysis was performed based on the median values of serum PBDEs in each study, there was not significant heterogeneity in each of the four subgroups (I2 values

Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0126989

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126989

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