DDT and its metabolites in breast milk from the Madeira River basin in the Amazon, Brazil

Abstract

Until the 1990's the 1,1,1-trichloro-bis-2,2′-(4chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT) was sprayed in the walls of the house in the along the Madeira River basin, Brazilian Amazon, a region well known by its large number of malaria cases. In the 1910, the relate of Oswaldo Cruz about health conditions in Madeira River region describes the presence of malaria in rates ranging until 100% of infected people in some localities. Data available in the literature points to the DDT contamination in fishes captured in Madeira River region. Fish is the major source of dietary protein to this people. DDT tends to accumulate in lipid rich tissues being eliminated by different events, including lactation. Considering the importance of the breast milk to the children feeding, the associated risks of DDT exposure via breast milk intake to children must be assessed. This is the main objective of this work: to analyse the presence of the p,p′-DDT and its metabolites p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDD in 69 human milk samples and to estimate the intake of DDT and its metabolite in terms of total DDT (total DDT = p,p′-DDE + p,p′-DDD+ p,p′-DDT). All sample showed contamination with DDT and its metabolites ranging from 25.4 to 9361.9 ng of total DDT / g of lipid (median=369.6 ng of total DDT / g of lipid) and 8.7 % of the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), in terms of total DDT, was higher than the Acceptable Daily Intake proposed by the WHO.

DDT Strikes Back: Galapagos Sea Lions Face Increasing Health Risks

“…Interestingly, Galapagos sea lion pups exhibited DDT concentrations similar to those detected in juveniles of Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) from several subpopulations in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Ylitalo et al 2008). The maximum levels of DDT concentration (1,200-3,100 lg kg -1 lipid) detected in six Galapagos sea lion pups are comparable to or higher than the concentrations recently found in Amazon River dolphins (Inia geoffrensis; 1,624 lg kg -1 lipid) (Torres et al 2009) and higher than concentrations measured in human milk (370 lg kg -1 lipid) samples from the Brazilian Amazon (Azeredo et al 2008), where DDT has been widely sprayed.…”

Ferrous ions accelerate sulfide-induced abiotic dechlorination of DDT in waterlogged paddy soil and in soil solution

“…A large number of studies have confirmed that DDD and DDE are the normal dechlorination metabolites of DDT (Azeredo et al 2008;Wrobel et al 2009). Using GC-MSD, three compounds (p,p′-DDD, p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDMU) were detected as dechlorination metabolites of p,p′-DDT in waterlogged soil and in soil solution, with or without Fe 2+ addition.…”

Resíduos de agrotóxicos em alimentos: uma preocupação ambiental global - Um enfoque às maçãs

“…92 Por exemplo, chegou a ser detectada a presença de DDT até no leite materno. [93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101] A grande polêmica movida pelo instigante e provocativo livro é que ele não só expunha os perigos do DDT, mas questionava, de forma eloquente, a confiança "cega" da humanidade no progresso tecnológico. Dessa forma, o livro ajudou a abrir espaço para o movimento ambientalista que se seguiu.…”