TRANSNUT, WHO Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Changes and Development, Department of Nutrition, Lilian-Stewart Building, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, PO Box 6128, Downtown Station, Montreal (QC), Canada H3C 3J7; Regional Institute for Public Health, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 918 Cotonou, Benin.
TRANSNUT, WHO Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Changes and Development, Department of Nutrition, Lilian-Stewart Building, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, PO Box 6128, Downtown Station, Montreal (QC), Canada H3C 3J7.
Environ Int. 2014 Aug;69:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.04.002. Epub 2014 May 4.
The Borgou region of northern Benin is a major cotton producing area and consistently uses higher amounts of pesticides than other areas of the country. Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), poorly handled, have been widely used and are still illegally present. We therefore hypothesized that serum OCP levels would be high in Borgou. As part of a case-control study on diabetes status and pesticide exposure, we measured the distribution of serum concentrations of 14 OCPs by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. A sample of 118 diabetic subjects was selected using a four-stage cluster sampling with 54.2% of men and 45.8% of women; 43% lived in urban areas, 14.4% were obese and 39.8% had high economic status. The four detected OCPs were p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, β-HCH and trans-nonachlor with respective geometric means (geometric standard deviation) of 497.1 (4.5), 20.6 (7.9), 2.9 (3.4), and 2.0 (2.3) ng/g of total serum lipids. OCP levels were significantly higher in obese, wealthier and more educated subjects and in those living in urban areas as compared to the other groups, particularly for p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT and β-HCH. Levels of DDT and DDE were higher than reported in other countries where DDT is no longer permitted. The low DDT/DDE ratio of 0.05 suggests past human exposure through food contamination. There is thus a need to reinforce governmental regulations for a more responsible use of pesticides in the country, in order to reduce health risks associated with persistent organic pollutants.
贝宁北部的博尔古地区是一个主要的棉花产区，其农药使用量一直高于该国其他地区。有机氯农药（OCPs）处理不当，被广泛使用，且仍在非法存在。因此，我们假设博尔古地区的血清 OCP 水平会很高。作为糖尿病状况和农药接触病例对照研究的一部分，我们通过气相色谱-质谱法测量了 14 种 OCP 血清浓度的分布。使用四阶段聚类抽样选择了 118 名糖尿病患者，其中男性占 54.2%，女性占 45.8%；43%的人居住在城市地区，14.4%的人肥胖，39.8%的人经济地位较高。检测到的四种 OCP 分别为 p,p'-DDT、p,p'-DDE、β-HCH 和反式-十氯，其几何平均值（几何标准差）分别为 497.1（4.5）、20.6（7.9）、2.9（3.4）和 2.0（2.3）ng/g 总血清脂质。与其他组相比，肥胖、富裕和受教育程度较高以及居住在城市地区的个体的 OCP 水平明显更高，尤其是 p,p'-DDE、p,p'-DDT 和β-HCH。DDT 和 DDE 的水平高于其他国家的报告，这些国家已经不再允许使用 DDT。0.05 的低 DDT/DDE 比值表明过去通过食物污染暴露于 DDT。因此，有必要加强政府对该国农药更负责任使用的监管，以降低与持久性有机污染物相关的健康风险。
