Persistent organic pollutant concentrations in first birth mothers across Mexico

Abstract

This project was initiated by the North America Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Its main purpose was to obtain an initial profile on pregnant woman's exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in North America (Canada, the United States and Mexico). Persistent organic pollutants are transferred to the fetus via the placenta during the pregnancy or to the infant via maternal milk; therefore, the pregnant woman's body burden is important because of the higher exposures and potential health effects in the fetus and infant. This paper presents the results from 240 pregnant women in 10 Mexican cities, and includes the concentrations of various POPs such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated dibenzo dioxins and furans (PCDDs and PCDFs) in maternal plasma. We found concentrations of p,p 0 -DDE in maternal samples from Coatzacoalcos to be B60% higher than those found in Ciudad Obregon, which had the second highest concentration. Pregnant women from Merida had higher mean concentrations of PCBs than all women in other regions. Results for PCDDs and PCDFs plus dioxin-like PCBs data were only available on the basis of composite samples, and their concentrations are similar in most cities except for Coatzacoalcos, which had more than double the concentration found in other cities. Although this study provides useful information on the variability of POPs in specific populations and possible regional/local differences, these results cannot be generalized to the entire Mexican population because of differences in age, gender, sources of exposure and nonrandom nature of the sample.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and metals in primiparous women: a comparison from Canada and Mexico

“…Two recent papers have reported the analysis of data from this CEC study for Canada (Foster et al, 2012) and Mexico (Rodriguez-Dozal et al, 2012). In each case the analysis was restricted to comparisons between sites or regions within each country.…”

“…The Canadian analysis by Foster et al (2012) focused on concentrations of POPs and metals in primiparous women and found statistical differences between the 5 Canadian sites for several contaminants after adjusting for age and BMI, although no one site was consistently higher for all contaminants. The paper by Rodriguez-Dozal et al (2012) did not look at concentrations of metals, but instead focused on POPs and pooled samples of di-oxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs in primiparous women. Significant differences were observed for several contaminants between the 10 Mexican study sites and concentrations of some POPs at certain sites were higher than originally expected based on the hypothesized exposure scenario (Rodriguez-Dozal et al, 2012).…”

“…These sites represent a mix of cities with different histories of industrial activity, agricultural practices and use of pesticides, types of employment, and also represent different geographic regions of each country (Foster et al, 2012; Rodriguez-Dozal et al, 2012). Primiparous women were recruited until the goal of twenty-five women from each of the sites was reached.…”

“…The extracts were purified on a Florisil column, concentrated to a final volume of 100 μL, and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry using electronic impact ionization (EI). Analytical details are explained in more detail in Foster et al, 2012 and Rodriguez-Dozal et al, 2012.…”

Estado Actual De La Investigación Sobre Plaguicidas en México

“…Madres embarazadas residentes de Veracruz presentaron concentraciones de DDE y DDT en suero sanguíneo en niveles que variaron desde concentraciones por debajo del límite de detección del método a 0.98 µg/g y de 0.24 a 20.85 µg/g, respectivamente (Waliszewski et al 2000). Rodríguez-Dozal et al (2012) cuantificaron el DDE en plasma sanguíneo de madres que habitaban zonas urbanas del país (Querétaro, Tultitlán, Mérida, Salamanca, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Córdoba, Coatzacoalcos y Cd. Obregón).…”