Bone Mineral Density in Yusho Health Examination

We examined the bone mineral density in Yusho patients. 460 subjects underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry bone scans as part of the nationwide Yusho health examination in 2011. Serum levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and non-ortho polychlorinated biphenyls were measured using high-resolution gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The average age was 64.0 years in women and 63.4 in men. About one-third (35%) of women (n = 89) had low bone mineral density (BMD), defined as a T-score less than 70, while only 4.9% of men (n = 10) had low BMD. Serum levels of several congeners were positively associated with Z-scores in simple regression analysis. Further multivariate linear regression analysis should be required in the future.