Biomarkers of Maternal and Fetal Exposure to Organochlorine Pesticides Measured in Pregnant Hispanic Women from Brownsville, Texas

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Ken Sexton²  Jennifer J. Salinas²  Thomas J. McDonald¹  Rose M. Z. Gowen²  Rebecca P. Miller³  Joseph B. McCormick² 

[1] School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M System Health Science Center, SRPH Building, College Station, TX 77843, USA; E-Mail:;University of Texas School of Public Health, Brownville Regional Campus, 80 Fort Brown-AHC, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA; E-Mails:;Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Region 12, 5425 Polk Street, Houston, TX 77023, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: biomarkers;    fetal exposure;    maternal exposure;    organochlorine pesticides;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph10010237

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Biomarkers of organochlorine pesticides were measured in both venous and umbilical cord blood from 35 pregnant Hispanic women living in Brownsville, Texas, USA. Gas chromatography with an electron capture detector was used to analyze specimens for 30 individual pesticides or their metabolites. Results indicate that blood concentrations were relatively low for most individual compounds, but that high-end (upper 10th percentile) values for total DDT were comparatively high. Although health effects associated with measured blood concentrations are uncertain, there is concern that fetal exposure to low levels of these OC compounds, either individually or in combination, might contribute to subsequent health problems, including neurodevelopmental effects, cancer, endocrine disruption, obesity and diabetes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.