title: Environmental exposure to organochlorine pesticides and deficits in cochlear status in children.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the hypothesis that organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p'-DDT) and its metabolite 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'- DDE) are ototoxic to humans. A multivariate general linear model was designed, in which the statistical relation between blood serum concentrations of HCB, β-HCH, p,p'-DDT, or p,p'-DDE at different ages (at birth, 6, 16, and 45 months) and the distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) was treated as multivariate outcome variables. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and OCPs were strongly correlated in serum of children from our cohort. To ascertain that the association between DPOAEs at a given frequency and concentration of a pesticide is not influenced by PCBs or other OCP also present in serum, we calculated benchmark concentrations (BMCs) relating DPOAEs to a serum pesticide alone and in presence of confounding PCB-153 or other OCPs. We found that BMCs relating DPOAEs to serum pesticides are not affected by confounders. DPOAE amplitudes were associated with serum OCPs at all investigated time intervals, however, in a positive way with prenatal exposure and in a negative way with all postnatal exposures. We observed tonotopicity in the association of pesticides with amplitude of DPOAEs as its strength was frequency dependent. We conclude that exposure to OCPs in infancy at environmental concentrations may be associated with hearing deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Hygiene, INAIL, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sisto
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moleti
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Ľubica
authors.initials: Ľ
authors.lastname: Palkovičová Murínová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Informatics and Biostatistics, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Soňa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wimmerová
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Kinga
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lancz
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tihányi
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxic Organic Pollutants, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Čonka
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Šovčíková
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Irva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hertz-Picciotto
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 265 Crittenden Blvd, CU420644, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Jusko
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 83303, Bratislava, Slovakia. tomas.trnovec@szu.sk.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Trnovec
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003051:Cochlea / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides
keywords: Hearing impairment; Infancy; Mixture effects; Organochlorine pesticides; Otoacoustic emissions; Polychlorinated biphenyls