SHORT REPORT

Organochlorine compounds and concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone in newborns

N Ribas-Fitó¹, M Sala¹, E Cardo¹, C Mazón², M E de Muga¹, A Verdú³, E Marco⁴, J O Grimalt⁴, J Sunyer¹

¹ Respiratory and Environmental Health Research Unit, Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica, Barcelona, Spain
² Primary Health Care Center, Flix, Tarragona, Spain
³ Department of Paediatrics, Hospital de Móra d’Ebre, Tarragona, Spain
⁴ Department of Environmental Chemistry, CID-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr J Sunyer, Respiratory and Environmental Health Research Unit, Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica (IMIM), C. del Doctor Aiguader, 80, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain;
jsunyer{at}imim.es

Aims: To assess the association between prenatal exposure to organochlorine compounds and thyroid status in newborns from an area with high levels of hexachlorobenzene (HCB).

Methods: A total of 98 mother-infant pairs (83.1% of all children born during the period 1997–99 in a specific area polluted with HCB) were recruited. Levels of organochlorine compounds were measured in 70 cord serum samples. Concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured in plasma of all newborns three days after birth.

Results: All newborns had concentrations of TSH within the range of normal reference values (<25 mU/l). Dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p'DDE), beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (ß-HCH), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) 138 and 118 were related to higher concentrations of TSH, although only significant for ß-HCH. Levels of HCB were not associated with TSH.

Conclusions: Although this community is highly exposed to HCB, no association was found between this organochlorine and TSH concentrations at birth.

Keywords: newborn; organochlorine compound; thyroid stimulating hormone

Abbreviations: p,p'DDE, dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene; ß-HCH, beta-hexachlorocyclohexane; HCB, hexachlorobenzene; PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl; TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone

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