Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides in cord serum of newborns in Wuhan, China

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) had been widely used in China before they were banned decades ago due to the concern of the toxicology to human. Previous reports showed that OCPs were still often detectable in human bodies. However, there is limited study concerning the body burden of OCPs in infants and fetus in China. In this study, the prenatal exposure to OCPs was evaluated by measuring OCPs in cord serum. A total of 1046 cord serum samples were collected in Wuhan during 2014 and 2015, and analyzed for the concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethanes (DDDs) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylenes (DDEs) by using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The median levels of Sigma HCHs and Sigma DDTs were 10.1 nglg lipid (with the range from <LOD to 1910 ng/g lipid) and 35.5 ng/g lipid (with the range from OAS to 11,100 nglg lipid), respectively.beta-HCH and p,p'-DDE were found to be the major OCPs presenting in the cord serum samples. A minor positive association between the serum levels of alpha-HCH and beta-HCH was observed, and the concentrations of o,p'- and p,p'-DDT isomers were found positively associated. The OCP exposure levels obtained in this study were comparable to those data from other areas in China and much lower than some of highly polluted countries. The prenatal exposure to OCPs would be of concern since fetuses were more vulnerable than adults and the cord serum is an accurate noninvasive matrix for monitoring of prenatal exposure. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.