Regional variation in pesticide concentrations in plasma of delivering women residing in rural Indian Ocean coastal regions of South Africa

Exposure to pesticides places pregnant women and the developing foetus at the highest risk. The objective of this study is to obtain an exposure assessment by investigating levels of pesticides in blood plasma of delivering women. We report on the concentrations of a, b, g HCH, endosulfan, HCB and t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Environmental Monitoring
Main Authors: Channa, Kalavati R., Rollin, Halina B., Wilson, Kerry S., Nost, Therese H., Odland, Jon Oyvind, Naik, Inakshi, Sandanger, Torkjel M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Royal Society of Chemistry 2012
Subjects:
Pesticides
Pregnant women
Blood plasma
Pesticides > Adverse effects
Pesticides > Toxicology
Arctic
Indian
Norway
AMAP
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2263/20946
https://doi.org/10.1039/c2em30264k
Description
Summary:Exposure to pesticides places pregnant women and the developing foetus at the highest risk. The objective of this study is to obtain an exposure assessment by investigating levels of pesticides in blood plasma of delivering women. We report on the concentrations of a, b, g HCH, endosulfan, HCB and the pyrethroids: cis-permethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin and deltamethrin found in the maternal blood plasma of delivering women (n ¼ 241) in three coastal sites of KwaZulu Natal. g-HCH and endosulfan 1 and 2 were the most dominant pesticides in all three sites. Significantly, higher levels of g-HCH and endosulfan were found in site 3 (vicinity of Empangeni) compared to the other two sites (p < 0.05). The GMlevels for g-HCH, endosulfan 1 and 2 were 956, 141 and 21 ng g 1 lipids in site 3, respectively. The pyrethroid pesticides, HCB, a-HCH and b-HCH were detected in less than 31% of the samples in all sites. g-HCH correlated positively and strongly to both endosulfan 1 and 2 (r > 0.47), indicating a common source of exposure. The high levels of g-HCH and endosulfan in maternal plasma samples in site 3 indicate the current and on-going exposure, which is of great concern for reproductive health and prenatal exposure. Part of this work was presented at the Environmental Health Conference 2011 – Resetting our Priorities, Salvador, Brazil, 6–9 February 2011. The Research Council of Norway and the National Research Foundation, South Africa (Grant 64528), the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), the Royal Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the SA Medical Research Council. http://www.rsc.org/jem am2013 ay2013

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