A preliminary study on the exposure of organochlorine pesticides in neonates and their association with hormone levels in Guangzhou
HE Ting1,2, CAI Feng-shan2, TANG Bin2, YAN Xiao1,2, LIAO Qi-long2, QIN Rui-xing2,3,4, MA Lu1, XIE Chun1, ZHENG Jing1,2
1. The Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 561113, China; 2. The Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Research Center of Emerging Contaminants, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510655, China; 3. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; 4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract:To investigate the impact of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) exposure during pregnancy on neonatal sex hormone levels and birth physique, this study recruited 271 mother-infant pairs from Guangzhou and collected meconium samples within 24hours postpartum. The levels of ten OCPs and seven sex hormones in meconium were analyzed. The generalized linear model (GLM) was employed to explore the association between OCP exposure and birth physique scores. Additionally, the mediation effect model was utilized to assess the mediating role of sex hormones in the relationship between OCP exposure and birth physique scores. The results indicated that the predominant OCPs in neonatal meconium was p,p'-DDE, with concentration range of not detected (nd) to 0.25nmol/g (median 0.05nmol/g). The median levels of progesterone (P4), androstenedione (AED), testosterone (T), estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3) in meconium were 1.80, 0.24, 0.13, 0.15, 0.38, and 8.24nmol/g respectively. For each unit increase in p,p'-DDE exposure level, AED, T, and E3 in meconium increased by 1.82 (95% CI: 0.34, 3.29), 1.31 (95% CI: 0.03, 2.60), and 211 (95% CI: 120, 302), respectively. In male newborns, for each unit increase in p,p'-DDE concentration was associated with an increase of 9.12 (95% CI: 3.11, 14.9) in E3leevels. Conversely, in female newborns, for each unit increase in Σ10OCPs concentration resulted in a decrease of 11.8 (95% CI: - 22.8, - 0.84) in the E2/T ratio. Exposure to p,p' - DDE may influence the birth length-Zscore (BLZ) in male neonates through the regulation of E3, with an indirect effect of 0.73 and a mediation effect percentage of 25.3%. Exposure to Σ10OCPs may impact head circumference-Zscore (HCZ) in female neonates via regulating E2/T ratio, with an indirect effect of - 0.18 and a mediation effect percentage of 19.4%. Exposure to OCPs during pregnancy may affect the changes in birth physique scores of neonates by regulating their sex hormone levels.
何婷, 蔡凤珊, 唐斌, 严骁, 廖其龙, 秦瑞欣, 马璐, 谢春, 郑晶. 广州市新生儿有机氯农药暴露特征及与激素水平的关联性初探[J]. 中国环境科学, 2025, 45(4): 2264-2275.
HE Ting, CAI Feng-shan, TANG Bin, YAN Xiao, LIAO Qi-long, QIN Rui-xing, MA Lu, XIE Chun, ZHENG Jing. A preliminary study on the exposure of organochlorine pesticides in neonates and their association with hormone levels in Guangzhou. CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCECE, 2025, 45(4): 2264-2275.
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