Review articleMonitoring concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in the general population: The international experience
Introduction
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are synthetic chemicals highly resistant to degradation that bioaccumulate in the environment, and are suspicious of or known to harm human health (Department of Health and Human Services, 2005, Hansen, 1998, Institute of Medicine, 2003, United Nations Environment Programme, 2003, United Nations Environment Programme, 2007). Virtually all humans are thought to store POPs in fat tissues, in particular dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDE, the main degradation product of the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, DDT), trans-nonachlor, hexachlorobenzene, the hexachlorociclohexanes (including lindane), dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (DeVoto et al., 1998, Liem et al., 2000, Porta and Zumeta, 2002, Porta et al., 2003, Sanz-Gallardo et al., 1999). Nowadays literally throughout life, human exposure to POPs occurs mostly from the fatty components of animal foods (Kalantzi et al., 2001, Schafer and Kegley, 2002, Schepens et al., 2001, van Larebeke et al., 2001). Although some POPs have been banned or restricted others remain deeply rooted in our societies, and human exposure continues even to compounds long banned like DDT, mostly through food chains. Implementing effective measures to decrease POPs contamination of animal feed and human foods is recognized as a major challenge to our societies (Porta, 2002). Monitoring the impact of such policies on human contamination requires surveillance of POP levels in representative samples of subjects. The Stockholm Treaty on POPs and other laws thus encourage health authorities to monitor concentrations of POPs in the general population (Porta and Zumeta, 2002, United Nations Environment Programme, 2007).
Furthermore, a lively debate exists on POP ‘doses’; for instance, on the clinical, epidemiological and social relevance of some physiopathologic effects, which long periods of exposure to low doses of some POPs may contribute to cause (Kaiser, 2000, Myers, 2002, Stokstad, 2004, Weinhold, 2003, Lee et al., 2007). Theoretically, such controversies and uncertainties about the effects of POPs on human health should strengthen the value of knowing as accurately as possible the distribution of concentrations of POPs in human populations. However, as we shall show, comprehensive surveillance and monitoring systems on human exposure to POPs are more scarce than would be thought.
Our primary aim was to identify all studies worldwide that analyzed the distribution of concentrations of POPs in a representative sample of the general population, and to synthesize the main characteristics of the studies. We also summarized some other population-wide studies that were particularly comprehensive and relevant.
Section snippets
Methods
The aim of our literature search was to identify all studies that analyzed the distribution of concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in a representative sample of the general population. All countries and regions worldwide were eligible for inclusion. Articles published in the academic literature were as eligible as reports from governmental and nongovernmental organizations. We were able to use articles and reports in English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. We
Results
Two broad types of literature products were identified in the review: government reports on POP concentrations in a general population, and ad hoc studies published in the academic literature, usually lead by a research group. Reports tend to analyze wider populations; often, a representative sample of a country or region. They also tend to analyze a larger number of compounds. Nearly all reports are linked to a national or regional health survey (Table 1).
Discussion and conclusions
Our review excluded polybrominated biphenyls, polybrominated biphenyl ethers, phthalates and other compounds of more recent appearance, even though their levels in biological media have increased in recent years to varying degrees in different population groups (Bernes, 1998, Department of Health and Human Services, 2005, Hauser et al., 2005, Stokstad, 2004, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2007, United Nations Environment Programme, 2007). We focused the review on compounds that are
Acknowledgments
We thank José Pumarega, Marta Crous, Magda Gasull, Eva Morales, Magda Bosch de Basea, Isabel Egea and Sílvia Geeraerd. Party funded by grants from the Ministry of the Environment of Spain; Oficina de Ciència i Tecnologia, Generalitat Valenciana (03/136); Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya; Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública; the INMA Network (G03/176, and FIS-FEDER 031615, 041509); the U.S. National Cancer Institute project “Use of the
References (91)
- et al.
Persistent organochlorines in the serum of the non-occupationally exposed New Zealand population
Chemosphere
(2004) - et al.
Methodological aspects of a national population-based study of persistent organochlorine compounds in serum
Chemosphere
(2005) - et al.
German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III): environmental pollutants in blood of the German population
Int J Hyg Environ Health
(2002) - et al.
DEHP metabolites in urine of children and DEHP in house dust
Int J Hyg Environ Health
(2004) - et al.
Exposure of women to organochlorine pesticides in Southern Spain
Environ Res
(2004) - et al.
Persistent organochlorine pollutants in human serum of 50–65 years old women in the Flanders Environmental and Health Study (FLEHS). Part 2: correlations among PCBs, PCDD/PCDFs and the use of predictive markers
Chemosphere
(2002) - et al.
Evaluation of total lipids using enzymatic methods for the normalization of persistent organic pollutant levels in serum
Sci Total Environ
(2006) - et al.
Polychlorinated biphenyl congeners as markers of toxic equivalents of polychlorinated biphenyls, dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in breast milk
Environ Res
(2001) - et al.
Chemicals and biological products used in south-east Asian shrimp farming, and their potential impact on the environment — a review
Sci Total Environ
(2001) - et al.
Key environmental human health issues in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins
Environ Res
(1999)
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofuran, and biphenyls in the general population in Finland
Chemosphere
Persistent organochlorine pollutants in human serum of 50–65 years old women in the Flanders Environmental and Health Study (FLEHS). Part 1: concentrations and regional differences
Chemosphere
Biomonitoring of persistent organochlorine pesticides, PCDD/PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs in blood of children from South West Germany (Baden-Wurttemberg) from 1993 to 2003
Chemosphere
Increasing serum levels of non-DDT-derivative organochlorine pesticides in the younger population of the Canary Islands (Spain)
Sci Total Environ
Persistent organic pollutants and the burden of diabetes
Lancet
Concentraciones de compuestos tóxicos persistentes en la población general española. Criterios para un diagnóstico de la situación actual [in Spanish]
Gac Sanit
Breastfeeding and concentrations of HCB and p,p′-DDE at the age of 1 year
Environ Res
Pesticide exposure of two age groups of women and its relationship with their diet
Sci Total Environ
The impact of age, lactation and dietary habits on PCB in plasma in Swedish women
Sci Total Environ
Twenty years of the German Environmental Survey (GerES): Human biomonitoring — temporal and spatial (West Germany/East Germany) differences in population exposure
Int J Hyg Environ Health
Renal function, cytogenetic measurements, and sexual development in adolescents in relation to environmental pollutants: a feasibility study of biomarkers
Lancet
Circumpolar maternal blood contaminant survey, 1994–1997 organochlorine compounds
Sci Total Environ
Linking molecular interactions to consequent effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) upon populations
Chemosphere
Inadvertent exposure to organochlorine pesticides DDT and derivatives in people from the Canary Islands (Spain)
Sci Total Environ
Assessment Report: Arctic Pollution Issues. Chapter 12: Pollution and Human Health
AMAP Assessment 2002: Human Health in the Arctic. Chapter 5: Biological Monitoring: Human Tissue Levels
Environmental influences on children's health [editorial]
Lancet
Serum concentrations of hexachlorobenzene in family members of workers in an electrochemical factory
Scand J Work Environ Health
Concentrations of selected organochlorines in serum of the non-occupationally exposed New Zealand population. Organochlorines Programme
Flemish biomonitoring program for surveillance of environmental health. Flemish Ministry of Health and Flemish Ministry of the Environment
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health. First National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. NCEH Pub. No. vol. 01-0379
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health. Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. NCEH Pub. No. vol. 02-0716
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health. Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. NECH Pub. No. vol. 05-0570
Neurodevelopmental effects: making the case for biologic plausibility
Neurotoxicology
Some dietary predictors of plasma organochlorine concentrations in an elderly German population
Arch Environ Health
Relationship of serum TCDD concentrations and age at exposure of female residents of Seveso, Italy
Environ Health Perspect
Homepage of the Implementation Group and Expert Team to Support Biomonitoring in Europe (ESBIO)
Biomarkers for Great Lakes priority contaminants: halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons
Environ Health Perspect
Etude sur les dioxines et les furanes dans le lait maternel en France
Serum concentrations of organochlorines in men: a search for markers of exposure
Sci Total Environ
Organochlorine in Swedish women: determinants of serum concentrations
Environ Health Perspect
Stepping backward to improve assessment of PCB congener toxicities
Environ Health Perspect
Dioxins in the Australian population: Levels in blood, National Dioxins Program Technical report No.9
Cited by (170)
Pregnancy-related maternal physiological adaptations and fetal chemical exposure
2023, Molecular and Cellular EndocrinologyOrganochlorinated pesticides in Italian women of reproductive age: Serum levels and determinants of exposure
2023, Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances