title: Priority persistent contaminants in people dwelling in critical areas of Campania Region, Italy (SEBIOREC biomonitoring study).
abstract: To investigate if protracted living in degraded environments of the Caserta and Naples provinces (Campania Region, Italy) had an impact on exposure of local people, highly toxic persistent contaminants were measured in blood, blood serum, and human milk of a large number of healthy donors. Sampling was carried out from 2008 to 2009. Blood was collected from over 850 20-64-year old donors; by pooling, 84 blood and 84 serum samples were obtained. Milk was donated by 52 mothers: specimens were pooled into six samples. Polychlorodibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs, dioxin-like (DL) and non-dioxin-like (Σ6PCBs)), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) were measured in serum (organic biomarkers) and blood (metals); these chemicals and polybromobiphenyl ethers (Σ9PBDEs) were analyzed in milk. PCDD+PCDF, DL-PCB, TEQTOT, and Σ6PCB concentration ranges (medians) in serum were 6.26-23.1 (12.4), 3.42-31.7 (11.5), 10.0-52.8 (23.9) pgTEQ97/g fat, and 55.5-647 (219) ng/g fat, respectively, while in milk concentration ranges were 5.99-8.77, 4.02-6.15, 10.0-14.2 pgTEQ97/g fat, and 48.7-74.2 ng/g fat. Likewise, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb findings in blood spanned 2.34-13.4 (5.83), 0.180-0.930 (0.475), 1.09-7.60 (2.60), 10.2-55.9 (28.8) μg/L, respectively; only Pb could be measured in milk (2.78-5.99 μg/L). Σ9PBDE levels in milk samples were 0.965-6.05 ng/g fat. Biomarkers' concentrations were found to be compatible with their current values in European countries and in Italy, and consistent with an exposure primarily determined by consumption of commercial food from the large distribution system. Based on relatively higher biomarker values within the hematic biomonitoring database, the following municipalities were flagged as possibly deserving attention for health-oriented interventions: Brusciano and Caivano (As), Giugliano (Hg), Pianura (PCDDs+PCDFs), and Qualiano-Villaricca (As, Hg). The analysis of samples' qualitative variability indicated that biomarker composition was sensitive at municipality level, a feature that can potentially drive interventions for future local risk assessment and/or management measures.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento Ambiente e connessa Prevenzione Primaria, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: defelip@iss.it.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Felip
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, Pisa and Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.affiliation: ASL CE, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Crescenzo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bove
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, Pisa and Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cori
authors.affiliation: ASL CE, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Argenzio
authors.affiliation: ASL NA2 Nord, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Orsi
authors.affiliation: Registro Tumori della Regione Campania, ASL NA3 Sud, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento Ambiente e connessa Prevenzione Primaria, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miniero
authors.affiliation: ASL NA1 Centro, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ortolani
authors.affiliation: ASL NA3 Sud, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Distretto Sanitario 69, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palombino
authors.affiliation: ASL NA2 Nord, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parlato
authors.affiliation: ASL NA2 Nord, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Pelliccia
authors.affiliation: ASL NA2 Nord, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Filomena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peluso
authors.affiliation: ASL NA3 Sud, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Distretto Sanitario 69, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piscopo
authors.affiliation: Regione Campania, Assessorato alla Sanità, Osservatorio Epidemiologico, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pizzuti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ginecologia e Ostetricia, Dipartimento di Scienze Ginecologiche, Perinatologia, e Puericultura, Policlinico Umberto I, Università "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Porpora
authors.affiliation: ASL CE, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Protano
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento Ambiente e connessa Prevenzione Primaria, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Oreste
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Senofonte
authors.affiliation: ASL NA3 Sud, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Distretto Sanitario 69, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvana Russo
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Spena
authors.affiliation: ASL NA1 Centro, Servizio di Epidemiologia e Prevenzione, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simonetti
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Dipartimento Ambiente e connessa Prevenzione Primaria, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: di Domenico
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004147:Dioxins / Q000378:metabolism; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000378:metabolism; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Campania Region; Dioxins; Exposure biomarkers; Heavy metals; Human biomonitoring; POPs