Melake Bealemlay Abebe, Alamirew Tamagnu Sintie, Endalew Salie Mulat
School of Environmental Health Science, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia.
Environ Health Insights. 2024 Dec 16;18:11786302241307471. doi: 10.1177/11786302241307471. eCollection 2024.
Despite its significant application, DDT and its metabolites pose a potential threat to the environment. Therefore, data on environmental and health concerns must thus be investigated.
The objective of this study was to assess the environmental and human health risks posed by DDT and its metabolites in Ethiopian surface waters.
The total amount of DDT and its metabolites consumed as a sum (∑DDT) is calculated by considering their equivalent toxicity. To calculate the human risk from drinking contaminated water, the maximum concentrations in all of Ethiopia's surface waterways were pooled. The average concentration values were added to calculate the human risk from consuming fish contaminated with ∑DDT. Similarly, ∑DDT residues in water can be used to predict the potential environmental risk.
A higher level of ∑DDT in surface water was detected in Gilgel Gibe I hydroelectric dam reservoir and its tributaries with an average concentration of 640 ng/l. There is no health risk associated with drinking these surface waters because the concentrations of ∑DDT were below the WHO's recommended level. In fish samples, accumulated a higher level of ∑DDT (21.47 ng/g ww). With the exception of local infants, ∑DDT does not pose a non-carcinogenic risk to any age group. However, consuming fish contaminated with ∑DDT poses an unacceptable risk of cancer to all age categories. The risk posed by ∑DDT on aquatic species is highly likely. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) value indicates that fish tissue does not absorb ∑DDT directly from the water.
The prevalence of ∑DDT would link to both historical pollution and their current application in vector control. Ecosystems are frequently exposed to chemical mixes later in life; thus, rather than focusing on the ideal case of exposure to a single toxin, future studies can examine the mixture toxicity of numerous organic contaminants.
尽管滴滴涕（DDT）及其代谢物有重要应用，但它们对环境构成潜在威胁。因此，必须对环境和健康相关数据展开调查。
本研究的目的是评估埃塞俄比亚地表水中DDT及其代谢物对环境和人类健康造成的风险。
通过考虑其等效毒性来计算作为总和消耗的DDT及其代谢物的总量（∑DDT）。为计算饮用受污染水带来的人类风险，汇总了埃塞俄比亚所有地表水道中的最高浓度。将平均浓度值相加，以计算食用受∑DDT污染的鱼类带来的人类风险。同样，水中的∑DDT残留可用于预测潜在的环境风险。
在吉尔吉尔吉贝一号水电大坝水库及其支流中检测到地表水中的∑DDT水平较高，平均浓度为640纳克/升。饮用这些地表水不存在健康风险，因为∑DDT的浓度低于世界卫生组织的推荐水平。在鱼类样本中，积累了较高水平的∑DDT（21.47纳克/克湿重）。除当地婴儿外，∑DDT对任何年龄组都不构成非致癌风险。然而，食用受∑DDT污染的鱼类对所有年龄类别都构成不可接受的癌症风险。∑DDT对水生物种造成风险的可能性很大。生物累积因子（BAF）值表明鱼类组织不会直接从水中吸收∑DDT。
∑DDT的流行与历史污染及其当前在病媒控制中的应用都有关联。生态系统在其生命周期后期经常接触化学混合物；因此，未来的研究不应只关注接触单一毒素的理想情况，而可以研究多种有机污染物的混合毒性。
