title: Persistent organic pollutant concentrations in first birth mothers across Mexico.
abstract: This project was initiated by the North America Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Its main purpose was to obtain an initial profile on pregnant woman's exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in North America (Canada, the United States and Mexico). Persistent organic pollutants are transferred to the fetus via the placenta during the pregnancy or to the infant via maternal milk; therefore, the pregnant woman's body burden is important because of the higher exposures and potential health effects in the fetus and infant. This paper presents the results from 240 pregnant women in 10 Mexican cities, and includes the concentrations of various POPs such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated dibenzo dioxins and furans (PCDDs and PCDFs) in maternal plasma. We found concentrations of p,p'-DDE in maternal samples from Coatzacoalcos to be ∼60% higher than those found in Ciudad Obregon, which had the second highest concentration. Pregnant women from Merida had higher mean concentrations of PCBs than all women in other regions. Results for PCDDs and PCDFs plus dioxin-like PCBs data were only available on the basis of composite samples, and their concentrations are similar in most cities except for Coatzacoalcos, which had more than double the concentration found in other cities. Although this study provides useful information on the variability of POPs in specific populations and possible regional/local differences, these results cannot be generalized to the entire Mexican population because of differences in age, gender, sources of exposure and nonrandom nature of the sample.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Department, Center for Population Heath Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Dozal
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Riojas Rodríguez
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernández-Ávila
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Oostdam
authors.forename: Jean Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Larry L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Needham
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trip
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000097:blood*; D001822:Body Burden; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000097:blood*; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008800:Mexico; D010575:Pesticides / Q000097:blood*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls