Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in maternal and cord blood from the maternal-infant research on environmental chemicals (MIREC) cohort study.

Mandy Fisher,Karelyn Davis,Tye E Arbuckle,Douglas Haines,William D Fraser,Eric Gaudreau,Alain Leblanc,Chun Lei Liang,Warren G Foster

doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0143-y

Abstract

BackgroundPregnant women are an especially important population to monitor for environmental exposures given the vulnerability of the developing fetus. During pregnancy and lactation chemical body burdens may change due to the significant physiological changes that occur. Developmental exposures to some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been linked with adverse health outcomes.MethodsFirst trimester maternal and cord blood plasma concentrations of several POPs including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)s and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were measured in samples from 1983 pregnant women enrolled in the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) cohort. Predictors of exposure were also identified.ResultsIn maternal plasma, there was >90 % detection for the perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluoroctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), oxychlordane and PCB 138 and 153. Cord blood plasma had much lower detection rates with low or very limited detection for most PCBs and PBDEs. The PFASs were the most frequently detected (23–64 %) chemical class in cord plasma. In a subset of 1st and 3rd trimester paired samples, PFAS concentrations were found to be strongly correlated and had ICCs ranging from 0.64 (PFOA) to 0.83 (PFHxS). The cord:maternal plasma concentration ratios ranged from 0.14 (PFOS) to 0.87 (oxychlordane, lipid adjusted). Similar to other studies, we found parity, maternal age, income, education, smoking status, pre-pregnancy BMI and fish consumption to be significant predictors for most chemicals. Those participants who were foreign-born had significantly higher concentrations of organochlorinated pesticides and PCBs.ConclusionsIn the MIREC study, multiple chemical contaminants were quantified in the plasma of pregnant women. In cord plasma PFOA had the highest detection rate. However, compared to other Canadian and international population studies, the MIREC participants had lower contaminant concentrations of these substances.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0143-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Pregnant women are an especially important population to monitor for environmental exposures given the vulnerability of the developing fetus
Maternal blood was collected in 10 mL K2 EDTA tubes; plasma was transferred into 2.5 mL pre-cleaned glass vials (Supelco®) for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) analysis and a 5 mL Sarstedt® tube for the perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) analysis
Analytical methods Two mL of plasma was enriched with labeled internal standards (PCB 141-13C12, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) 153, -13C12, PCB 18013C12, PCB 194-13C12, hexachlorobenzene-13C6, α-HCH13C6, trans-nonachlor-13C10, oxychlordane-13C10, p,p’DDE-13C12, Parlar 26-13C10, Parlar 50-13C10, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)-7713C12) plus analogous internal standards (3,6-F2-PBDE 99, PBDE 101) and proteins were denaturated with reagent grade alcohol

Summary

Introduction

Pregnant women are an especially important population to monitor for environmental exposures given the vulnerability of the developing fetus. Developmental exposures to some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been linked with adverse health outcomes. Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are heat stable, nonflammable and able to repel water and oils. They are used in a wide variety of products including non-stick cookware, breathable all weather clothing, wiper blades, wire and cable insulation, fire retardant foams, lubricants, paper coatings, pharmaceuticals, and nail polish [2]. They are very stable compounds and highly persistent in the environment [10]. Exposures to humans mainly occur through diet [13, 14]

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