Effects of Pregnancy on Storage of Organochlorine Insecticides

Abstract

This paper reports on the concentration of or-ganochlorine insecticides in the tissues of 35 pregnant women, 33 nonpregnant women in the fertile period of life, and 23 neonates. In pregnant women, fat tissue, placenta, uterus, and blood were examined; in nonpregnant women, fat tissue only was analyzed; and in neonates, the umbilical blood. All the samples were analyzed by gas liquid chromatography. The findings of this study indicate that in pregnancy a lower storage of the following organo-chlorine insecticides occurs in the adipose tissue: p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDD, o,p′-DDT + o,p′-DDD, o,p′-DDE, and total o,p′-DDT. The same phenomenon is observed for BHC isomers and dieldrin. All the organochlorine insecticides found in the fat tissue of pregnant women were present both in maternal and fetal blood in all the cases studied. These findings suggest that in pregnancy the metabolism of organochlorine insecticides is enhanced, and that organochlorine insecticides pass the placental barrier.