Pesticide exposure of pregnant women in Guadeloupe: ability of a food frequency questionnaire to estimate blood concentration of chlordecone.
BACKGROUND
Chlordecone, an environmentally persistent organochlorine insecticide used intensively in banana culture in the French West Indies until 1993, has permanently polluted soils and contaminated foodstuffs. Consumption of contaminated food is the main source of exposure nowadays. We sought to identify main contributors to blood chlordecone concentration (BCC) and to validate an exposure indicator based on food intakes.


METHODS
We used a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) completed by a sample of 194 pregnant women to estimate their dietary exposure to chlordecone and compared it to blood levels. In a first approach, chlordecone daily intake was estimated as the product of daily eaten quantity of 214 foodstuffs, multiplied by their chlordecone content, and summed over all items. We then predicted individual blood chlordecone concentration with empirical weight regression models based on frequency of food consumption, and without contamination data.


RESULTS
Among the 191 subjects who had BCC determination, 146 (76%) had detectable values and mean BCC was 0.86 ng/mL (range < LOD-13.2). Mean per capita dietary intake of chlordecone was estimated at 3.3 microg/day (range: 0.1-22.2). Blood chlordecone levels were significantly correlated with food exposure predicted from the empirical weight models (r=0.47, p<0.0001) and, to a lesser extent, with chlordecone intake estimated from food consumption and food contamination data (r=0.20, p=0.007). Main contributors to chlordecone exposure included seafood, root vegetables, and Cucurbitaceous.


CONCLUSIONS
These results show that the Timoun FFQ provides valid estimates of chlordecone exposure. Estimates from empirical weight models correlated better with blood levels of chlordecone than did estimates from the dietary intake assessment.
Guldner
Laurence
L
INSERM U625, GERHM, Université Rennes 1, IFR 140, 35042, Rennes, France. l.guldner@invs.sante.fr
Multigner
Luc
L
Héraud
Fanny
F
Monfort
Christine
C
Thomé
Jean Pierre
JP
Giusti
Arnaud
A
Kadhel
Philippe
P
Cordier
Sylvaine
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D007631:Chlordecone / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D019430:Guadeloupe; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010575:Pesticides / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D010575:Pesticides; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D007631:Chlordecone