title: Different pattern of contamination by legacy POPs in two populations from the same geographical area but with completely different lifestyles: Canary Islands (Spain) vs. Morocco.
abstract: The archipelago of the Canary Islands is one of the so-called ultra-peripheral territories of the European Union due to its geographical location away from the continent. Although the level of socioeconomic development and lifestyle of this region is comparable to that of any other of the European Union, it is just 100 km off the coast of Morocco, in the African continent. The population of the Canaries has been extensively studied with respect to their levels of POPs, and it has been described that their levels are relatively high compared to other European regions. It has been speculated with that the proximity to Africa may be associated with this level of contamination, but so far this theory has not been verified. This paper describes for the first time the levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a sample of the population of Morocco (n = 131), which were compared with those of a similar sample of the population of permanent residents in the Canary Islands (n = 100) in order to check this hypothesis. Our results showed that Moroccans have higher median values of OCPs than the residents in the Canaries (∑ OCP = 150.2 ng/g lw vs. 83.4 ng/g lw, p = 0.0001). Regarding the PCBs, although recent studies have reported that new environmental sources of PCBs exist in several African countries (including Morocco), the plasma levels of most congeners were significantly higher in Canarians than in Moroccans, especially for the dioxin-like PCBs (median = 7.3 ng/g lw vs. 0.0 ng/g lw, p = 0.0001). The detailed analysis of our results suggests that the levels of these pollutants in the Canarian people are more influenced by their lifestyle and the previous use of these chemicals in the archipelago than by its geographical vicinity with Morocco.
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Unit, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Avda. Marítima del Sur, 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis Alberto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Henríquez-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Unit, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Avda. Marítima del Sur, 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Electronic address: operez@dcc.ulpgc.es.
authors.forename: Octavio P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Luzardo
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Unit, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Avda. Marítima del Sur, 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Department of Medical and Surgery Sciences, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis Pérez
authors.initials: JLP
authors.lastname: Arellano
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Unit, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Avda. Marítima del Sur, 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Department of Medical and Surgery Sciences, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carranza
authors.affiliation: Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Nieves Jaén
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Maira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Almeida-González
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Norberto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Suárez
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Valerón
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Camacho
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zumbado
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer (ICIC), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Plaza Dr. Pasteur s/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Boada
mesh_terms: D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000378:metabolism; D008019:Life Style; D009018:Morocco; D010575:Pesticides / Q000378:metabolism; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000378:metabolism; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Canary Islands; Lifestyle; Morocco; Persistent organic pollutants; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons