Association between Organochlorine Pesticide Levels in Breast Milk and Their Effects on Female Reproduction in a Taiwanese Population

Abstract

Only few studies have focused on organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in breast milk and the related health risks for women in Taiwan. Our goal is to examine breast milk OCPs and their associations with female reproductive function (infertility, gynecological diseases, and menstruation characteristics) as well as their correlation with sociodemographic parameters (age, pre-pregnant body mass index (BMI), annual incomes, population, birth year, and parity) and dietary habit. The breast milk samples were collected in southern Taiwan (n = 68) from 2013 to 2016 and the OCP residues were analyzed using high resolution gas chromatography with low resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/LRMS). The results show that the most abundant OCP residues in the breast milk was ΣDDT with the geometric mean ± standard deviation of 9.81 ± 7.52 ng−1 lipid−1 followed by ΣHCH (0.539 ± 0.557 ng−1·lipid−1). In the principal component analysis, cis-chlordane (cis-CHL) and γ-HCH were found to be related to participants who received medical treatment for infertility, and 4,4′-DDT was associated with those who received gynecological surgery. The logistic regression showed that the odds ratio (OR) of log γ-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) was higher for mothers who had received medical treatment for infertility than for the normal group (OR = 25.6, p = 0.035) after adjustments for age, pre-pregnant BMI, annual income, population (i.e., native-born Taiwanese), birth year, and parity. Cow milk and beef consumption as well as menstruation characteristics such as average menstrual period (>5 days), shortest menstrual period (<3 days), and women who had taken hormonal drugs were significantly associated to several OCP residues in the breast milk. In addition, ΣHCH including β-HCH and γ-HCH was correlated with annual family income and gravidity as well as cow milk and beef consumptions. Overall, γ-HCH exhibited a probable association with the infertility diseases of Taiwanese women, and dietary habit might play an important role in the female Taiwanese exposure to OCPs.

Residue Levels of Organochlorine Pesticides in Breast Milk and Its Associations with Cord Blood Thyroid Hormones and the Offspring’s Neurodevelopment

“…The breast milk levels of 20 individual OCPs in ng/g lipid are shown in Table 2 with 4,4′-DDE having the highest mean ± SD of 10.3 ± 6.76, followed by 4,4′-DDD (1.00 ± 1.43), and 4,4′-DDT (0.715 ± 0.745). Similar to our previous studies [1,11], 4,4′-DDE was found to be the predominant OCP residue in the breast milk. DDE is the major metabolite of DDT and has a longer half-life in the human body compared to DDT and its other degradation products.…”

“…The OCP residues in the breast milk were collected and extracted. Afterwards, the samples were subjected to clean-up and analysis as previously described [1,11]. Twenty different OCPs, including 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), 4,4′-DDE, 4,4′-DDT, α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, δ-HCH, cis-CHL, trans-CHL, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, endrin, endrin aldehyde, endrin ketone, dieldrin, decachlorobiphenyl, endosulfan I (a), endosulfan II (b), endosulfan sulfate, and methoxychlor, were determined using high resolution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the splitless mode (Agilent 7890/5975C-GC/MSD from Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA) and a capillary column (DB-5MS purchased from J&W Scientific, Folsom, CA) separated in the electron impact (EI) mode.…”

“…Multivariate analyses including a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and a redundancy analysis (RDA) were used to determine associations between the Bayley-III scores and individual OCP or THs and IGF-1. Several studies have reported that serum or breastmilk levels of OCPs are significantly and positively correlated with women’s age; inversely, OCP levels have been significantly and negatively linked to women’s BMI and parity [1,11,33,34]. The variables, including maternal age, pre-pregnant BMI, parity, and infant gender, were considered as the covariates to do the further statistical analyses, especially for the purpose of adjustment.…”

“…In addition to their presence in the environment, OCPs have also been observed in human specimens, such as human breast milk, which is a noninvasive sample that can be used to evaluate OCP levels in humans [1]. According to our previous report [11], dietary habits (e.g., consumption of cow’s milk and beef) and menstrual characteristics (e.g., menstrual period days) in women of childbearing age are related to breast milk OCP levels.…”

The negative impact of the environment on methylation/epigenetic marking in gametes and embryos: A plea for action to protect the fertility of future generations

“…Weed killers that induce the micropenis syndrome, used in vineyards (Sultan et al, ), are present in food and water; in general, weed killers such as atrazine and glyphosate (Roundup) have a negative impact on male fertility. Organo chlorine such as ∑DDT, ∑HCH, γ‐HCH, have been found in the milk of Taiwanese women patients, and their presence is strongly associated with difficulty in conceiving (Chen et al, ). These compounds originate in cow's milk and meat.…”