Organochlorine compounds in pregnant women
29/03/2012
Because of this concern is born the will of Jesús María Ibarluzeastudy. Public Health Technician and coordinator of the cohort of Gipuzkoa, Jesús Maria explains that the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the concentration of POPs in pregnant women in the cohort of Gipuzkoa and Sabadell and possible predictors: socioeconomic, reproductive and food.
1,259 pregnant women to study
With the aim to find these predictor variables were measured concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and a wide range of substances such as pesticides hexachlorobenzene, beta and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, heptachlor epoxide, dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE) and dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) in 1259 serum from pregnant women. We evaluated associations between biomarkers of exposure levels in blood collected during pregnancy and possible predictor variables, using linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders.
The compounds that were found most frequently were the DDE (99{3effe4377b6f02be2524d084f7d03914ac32a2b62c0a056ca3444e58c1f10d0b} of samples) and more freecuntes PCBs, 95{3effe4377b6f02be2524d084f7d03914ac32a2b62c0a056ca3444e58c1f10d0b} of the samples. In general, the levels of organochlorine compounds increased with age of the mother. The body mass index was associated with the presence of organochlorine pesticides, but was inversely proportional to the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls.
The elimination of POPs was observed only after a cumulative period of breast-feeding over a year. The intake of different types of food showed little relevance to predicting levels of POPs analyzed. The type of food which showed better predictive ability was the fish, but in general, foods that make up the diet did not explain significant variations in levels of biomarkers studied.
In addition, we note that the levels of organochlorine compounds in women undergoing the study were similar to or lower than those found in other parts of Spain and other countries.
Jesús María Ibarluzea. Doctor of Public Health. Public health technician and coordinator of the INMA cohort of Gipuzkoa.