Persistent Organic Pollutant Levels in Maternal and Cord Blood Plasma and Breast Milk: Results from the Rio Birth Cohort Pilot Study of Environmental Exposure and Childhood Development (PIPA Study)

Aline Souza Espindola Santos, Josino Costa Moreira, Ana Cristina Simoes Rosa, Volney Magalhães Câmara, Antonio Azeredo, Carmen Ildes Rodrigues Froes Asmus and Armando Meyer ()
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Aline Souza Espindola Santos: Occupational and Environmental Branch, Public Health Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-598, Brazil
Josino Costa Moreira: Center for Studies of Human Ecology and Worker’s Health, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
Ana Cristina Simoes Rosa: Center for Studies of Human Ecology and Worker’s Health, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
Volney Magalhães Câmara: Occupational and Environmental Branch, Public Health Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-598, Brazil
Antonio Azeredo: Occupational and Environmental Branch, Public Health Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-598, Brazil
Carmen Ildes Rodrigues Froes Asmus: School of Medicine, Maternity School Hospital, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 22240-000, Brazil
Armando Meyer: Occupational and Environmental Branch, Public Health Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-598, Brazil

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and organochlorine pesticides (OCP) were evaluated in the breast milk and maternal and umbilical cord blood of pregnant women and their newborns in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The concentration of 11 PCB and 17 OCP were measured in 135 samples of maternal, and 116 samples of cord blood plasma, as well as 40, 47, and 45 samples of breast milk at 1st, 3rd, and 6th months after birth, respectively, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS). Women were asked to answer an enrollment questionnaire with reproductive, lifestyle, residential and sociodemographic questions. The most commonly detected OCPs and PCBs in the maternal and cord blood were 4,4′-DDE; β-HCH; ɣ-HCH; and PCB 28. 4,4′-DDE was also the most commonly detected OCP in breast milk samples. Although not statistically significant, ∑DDT levels were higher among women with pregestational BMI ≥ 30, and who were non-white and older (age > 40). Newborns with an Apgar score ≤ 8 at minute 5 of life showed significantly higher levels of ∑DDT in the cord blood. Persistent OCPs and PCBs were still detected in maternal and umbilical cord blood and breast milk, even after decades of their banishment in Brazil. They may pose a risk to maternal, fetal and children’s health.

Keywords: organochlorine compounds; DDT; polychlorinated biphenyls; pregnant women; umbilical cord; breast milk; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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