Concentrations of Organochlorine Pesticides in Milk of Nicaraguan Mothers

Abstract

Breast-milk samples from 101 mothers from the basin of Rio Atoya, Nicaragua, were collected on two occasions within the first trimester of lactation. Milk samples were analyzed for 13 organochlorine pesticides: (1) p,p'-dichlorophenyldichloroethylene; (2) p,p'-dichlorophenyltrichloroethane; (3) p,p'-dichlorophenyldichlorodiene; (4) α-hexachlorocyclohexane; (5) β-hexachlorocyclohexane; (6) γ-hexachlorocyclohexane; (7) δ-hexachlorocyclohexane; (8) toxaphene; (9) dieldrin; (10) endrin; (11) aldrin; (12) heptachlor; and (13) heptachlor-epoxide. Organochlorines of the dichlorodiphenylethane class (i.e., p,p'-dichlorodiphenylethane and p,p'-dichlorodiphenylethane) were found in all samples and at the highest mean concentrations observed in the study. Chemicals in the hexachlorocyclohexane family (i.e., α- and δ-hexachlorocyclohexane) were not found at all (0%), and the other hexachlorocyclohexane compounds (i.e., β > γ) were found in less than 6% of the samples. Twenty percent or less of the sample contained chlorinated cyclodienes (i.e., dieldrin > endrin > heptachlor-epoxide > heptachlor). No measurable concentrations of α-hexachlorocyclohexane, aldrin, p,p'-dichlorophenyldichlorodiene, and toxaphene were found in the breast milk samples. Analysis of variance demonstrated that only the concentration of p,p'-dichlorophenyldichloroethylene p,p'-dichlorophenyltrichloroethane, and endrin were affected significantly by maternal age. Overall, with the exception of p,p'-chlorophenyldichloroethylene, and p,p'-dichlorophenyltrichloroethane, the mean concentrations of the analyzed pesticides were low. Total p,p'-dichlorophenyltrichloroethane concentrations that exceeded the allowed daily intake set by the World Health Organisation were found in 5.9% of the samples.