Organophosphate pesticide levels in blood and urine of women and newborns living in an agricultural community

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Karen Huen, University of California Berkeley; Asa Bradman, University of California Berkeley; Kim Harley, University of California Berkeley; Paul Yousefi, University of California Berkeley; Dana Boyd Barr, Emory University; Brenda Eskenazi, University of California Berkeley; Nina Holland, University of California Berkeley
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-08-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2012.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2012.05.005
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environmental Research
• ISSN: 0013-9351
• Volume: 117
• Start Page: 8
• End Page: 16
• Grant/Funding Information: This publication was made possible by grant numbers R826886 and R82670901 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and R01ESO12503-03 and PO1 ES009605 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS).
• Keywords: OXIDATIVE STRESS; Maternal blood; EXPOSURE; Cord blood; PARAOXONASE PON1 STATUS; PREGNANCY; SERUM PARAOXONASE; CHLORPYRIFOS; Biomarkers; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Urinary metabolites; ENZYME-ACTIVITY; Environmental Sciences; TOXICITY; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; IN-UTERO; GENE POLYMORPHISMS; Science & Technology; Paraoxonase; Organophosphate pesticides
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Biology, Ecology

Abstract

Organophosphate pesticides are widely used and recent studies suggest associations of in utero exposures with adverse birth outcomes and neurodevelopment. Few studies have characterized organophosphate pesticides in human plasma or established how these levels correlate to urinary measurements. We measured organophosphate pesticide metabolites in maternal urine and chlorpyrifos and diazinon in maternal and cord plasma of subjects living in an agricultural area to compare levels in two different biological matrices. We also determined paraoxonase 1 (PON1) genotypes (PON1 192 and PON1 -108) and PON1 substrate-specific activities in mothers and their newborns to examine whether PON1 may affect organophosphate pesticide measurements in blood and urine.Chlorpyrifos levels in plasma ranged from 0-1726. ng/mL and non-zero levels were measured in 70.5% and 87.5% of maternal and cord samples, respectively. Diazinon levels were lower (0-0.5. ng/mL); non-zero levels were found in 33.3% of maternal plasma and 47.3% of cord plasma. Significant associations between organophosphate pesticide levels in blood and metabolite levels in urine were limited to models adjusting for PON1 levels. Increased maternal PON1 levels were associated with decreased odds of chlorpyrifos and diazinon detection (odds ratio(OR): 0.56 and 0.75, respectively). Blood organophosphate pesticide levels of study participants were similar in mothers and newborns and slightly higher than those reported in other populations. However, compared to their mothers, newborns have much lower quantities of the detoxifying PON1 enzyme suggesting that infants may be especially vulnerable to organophosphate pesticide exposures.