Premature delivery and organochlorine compounds: Polychlorinated biphenyls and some organochlorine insecticides

Abstract

Some organochlorine compounds (OCC), DDT and metabolites, γ-HCH, dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide and polychlorinated biphenyls were assessed in the serum of 17 women with premature delivery (PD) and 10 women with normal, third-trimester pregnancy. Out of 17 cases of PD, 8 cases were associated with high PCB serum levels (128.0 ppb versus 19.25 ppb in the control group), and 5 cases with high DDT serum levels (119.6 ppb versus 26.5 ppb in the control group). Two of the cases with high PCB serum levels also had high total DDT serum levels. The 5 cases with high total DDT serum levels also had high γ-HCH and heptachlor epoxide serum levels and 4 out of these 5 cases also had high dieldrin serum levels. The higher chlorinated PCB isomers constituted a higher percentage of total PCBs in the study group in comparison with the control group (about 30% versus 8.94%). At the same time, the percentage of total o,p′-DDT was unusually high (50% of total DDT in the study group versus 30% in the control group[tiThe possible role of the relatively high serum levels of the organochlorine compounds assessed in this study, in the occurrence of PD, is discussed.