Serum DDT and DDE levels in pregnant women of Chiapas, Mexico

Arch Environ Health. 2004 Nov;59(11):559-65. doi: 10.1080/00039890409603434.

Abstract

The authors measured the main ingredients of technical DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl [p,p'-DDT]) and its principal metabolite, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)ethylene [p,p'-DDE]) in serum collected from 52 pregnant women in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico in 1998. The median lipid-adjusted serum levels for the women were 676 ng/g p,p'-DDT (range: 56-23,169 ng/g) and 4,843 ng/g p,p'-DDE (range: 113-41,964 ng/g). In regression analysis, serum DDT and DDE increased with age (test for trend, p = .022) but decreased with total lactation (test for trend, p < .001). Residence in a house that had ever been sprayed for malaria control was also related to serum DDT and DDE. This study provides evidence of high-level exposure to DDT and DDE among pregnant women living in Chiapas, Mexico, despite countrywide restrictions on its use at the time.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • DDT / blood*
  • Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene / blood*
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Environmental Pollutants / blood*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Insecticides / blood*
  • Lactation
  • Mexico
  • Pregnancy

Substances

  • Environmental Pollutants
  • Insecticides
  • Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene
  • DDT