title: Organochlorine pesticide exposure in children living in southern Spain.
abstract: Despite the prohibition of most persistent organochlorine (OC) pesticides in Spain, their presence has been widely documented in adult human tissues. However, scarce information is available on the exposure of children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of 16 OC pesticide residues in 52 fat samples collected from boys with a mean age of 7yr (0-15yr) living in Southern Spain and to assess the association between OC pesticide levels and child characteristics. No pesticide was found in more than 50% of samples, except for p,p'-DDE (79% of samples; median, 710ng/g lipid). After this compound, the most frequent pesticides were o,p'-DDT (17%; median, 330ng/g lipid) and o,p'-DDD (15%; median, 1510ng/g lipid). No statistically significant association was found between p,p'-DDE or SigmaDDTs and the birth year, birth weight, gestational age, infant feeding history or the age, weight, height or Quetelet Index at the time of sampling. The lack of correlation between the presence of the main metabolite p,p'-DDE and that of the parent compounds, o,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDT, suggests that children were exposed mainly to the metabolite rather than to the commercial pesticide, which was banned 30yr ago. In contrast, among currently used OCs, endosulfan was positively correlated with the presence of its metabolites, suggesting exposure to the commercial products. Further research is warranted to investigate the health consequence in children resulting from exposure to chemicals suspected of endocrine-disrupting effects.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Investigations, San Cecilio University Hospital, CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria-Jose
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lopez-Espinosa
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lopez-Navarrete
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rivas
authors.forename: Mariana F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nogueras
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campoy
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Olea-Serrano
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lardelli
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Olea
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007223:Infant; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010573:Pesticide Residues