Persistent organic pollutants and haematological markers in Greenlandic pregnant women: the ACCEPT sub-study

The Arctic populations have high blood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Exposure to POPs was related to adverse health effects e.g. immune, neurological and reproductive systems. This study investigates associations between serum POP levels and haematological markers in Greenl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Circumpolar Health
Main Authors: Ane-Kersti Skaarup Knudsen, Manhai Long, Henning Sloth Pedersen, Eva Cecilie Bonefeld-Jørgensen
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018
Subjects:
Persistent organic pollutants
blood samples
haematological markers
Inuit
pregnancy
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Arctic
Greenland
Circumpolar Health
greenlandic
International Journal of Circumpolar Health
inuit
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2018.1456303
https://doaj.org/article/a5925b251ed44ac293da5227c9916e82
Description
Summary:The Arctic populations have high blood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Exposure to POPs was related to adverse health effects e.g. immune, neurological and reproductive systems. This study investigates associations between serum POP levels and haematological markers in Greenlandic pregnant women. This cross-sectional study included 189 women enrolled in 2010–2011 at the Greenlandic West coast by the inclusion criteria ≥18 years of age and had lived for 50% or more of their life in Greenland. The associations between the sum of the POP variables polychlorinated biphenyls (sumPCBs), organochlorine pesticides (sumOCPs), perfluoroalkylated substances (sumPFASs) and 24 haematological markers were analysed using linear regression adjusted for age, pre-pregnancy BMI, parity, gestation week, plasma-cotinine and alcohol intake. It showed a significantly inverse association between several haematological markers (eosinophil, lymphocyte, neutrophil and white blood cells) and sumPCBs, sumOCPs and sumPFASs. In addition, the monocyte, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, plateletcrit and platelet count markers were significantly inversely associated with sumPFASs, but the haematocrit and mean erythrocyte corpuscular volume were positively associated with sumPFASs. In conclusion, exposure to POPs influenced several haematological markers, especially cell count parameters, suggesting immunosuppressive potential of POPs in Greenlandic pregnant women. The data need further investigations.

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