Serum levels of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls among inhabitants of Greater Metropolitan Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Levels of persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in the blood serum of people living and working in the urban area of greater Rio de Janeiro city. Blood samples from 33 volunteers (16 males, 17 females, 19-63 years old) were taken in January 1999. OCP residues (op'DDT, pp'DDT, pp'DDD, pp'DDE, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Heptachlor-epoxide, alpha-, beta- and gamma-Hexachlorocyclo-hexane, Hexachlorobenzene) and PCBs (congeners: 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, 180) were extracted with n-hexane and analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Except for pp'DDE (detection limit = 1.4 microg/L) no other OCP residue was found in the samples. No PCB congener (detection limit = 2.0 microg/L) was detected either. pp'DDE was found in 17 out of 33 samples in concentrations that ranged from 1.4 to 8.4 microg/L of serum or, on a fat basis, from 0.200 to 3.452 microg/g of serum lipids. Percentage of positive samples (%) and levels of pp'DDE (range of positive samples) increased from the youngest to the oldest group (< or = 29 yrs: 10%, 0.278 microg/g; 30-39 yrs: 60%, 0.200-0.765 microg/g; > or = 40 yrs: 77%, 0.257-3.452 microg/g).

Organochlorine compound levels in fertile and infertile women from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…ingestion of fish and other products of animal origin, such as meat, poultry, milk, cheese, and eggs (27). However, no conclusion about the differences in ex posure to organochlorines by food intake was visible, because only one infertile woman reported consump tion of fish, and in both the studied groups, food con sumption was exclusively based on chicken and beef in similar proportions.…”

Serum DDT in malaria vector control sprayers in Mato Grosso State, Brazil

“…All blood samples were contaminated with α-HCH, β-HCH, p,p'DDT, and p,p'DDE at mean concentrations of 0.4, 31.8, 64.3, and 13.5µg/L, respectively. The levels of β-HCH, p,p'DDE, and p,p'DDT were considerably higher than those found in samples of unexposed workers, with mean concentrations of 3.3, 14.3, and 1.5µg/L, respectively Recent studies of groups not occupationally exposed to organochlorine pesticides were conducted in Brazil by Koifman et al (1998), Paumgartten et al (1998), and Delgado et al (2002). The first group performed a case study to investigate the occurrence of a cancer cluster among young indigenous adults in an Amazonian village.…”

“…p,p'DDE was detected in 16 of 26 samples, but p,p'DDE exceeded the limit of quantification of 1.4 µg/L in only three samples. Delgado et al (2002) analyzed organochlorine pesticides in blood samples from 33 volunteers who had been living in Greater Metropolitan Rio de Janeiro for at least 5 years. p,p'DDE was found in 17 of the 33 samples at levels varying from 1.4 to 4.8µg/L.…”

Evidence of a Threshold Dose for Promotion of Hepatocarcinogenesis by Hexachlorobenzene in a Rat Medium-Term Liver Bioassay

“…The production and applications of HCB have decreased since the 1970s due to bans and restrictions of its use in many countries, but it still occurs as a by-product in the production of a number of chlorinated solvents and other industrial chemicals. Due to its chemical stability, persistence, and long-range transport, HCB can be found throughout the environment and is detectable in human milk, blood, and adipose tissue [3][4][5] . In the 1950s, accidental exposure to high doses of HCB in Turkey resulted in toxic effects in more than 3,000 people 6 , most of whom were children.…”