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Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in human blood plasma from Hong Kong: Markers of exposure and sources from fish

  • Hong-Sheng Wang
  • , Zhuo-Jia Chen
  • , Wei Wei
  • , Yu-Bon Man
  • , John P. Giesy
  • , Jun Du
  • , Ge Zhang
  • , Chris Kong-Chu Wong
  • , Ming-Hung Wong

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Abstract

Previous studies revealed that food, particularly fish products, is the major source for human exposure to organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). Our previous studies revealed that contamination of Hong Kong market fish with DDT was 0.74-131 with a mean of 12.2ngg-1, ww, a result suggested that local people might be exposed to hazardous concentrations of OCPs. Therefore, the present systematic study was conducted to determine concentrations of OCPs in blood plasma of Hong Kong residents, develop marker substances and evaluate sources of 19 individual OCPs from fish. Concentrations of ∑OCPs, ∑DDTs and ∑HCHs ranged from 294 to 9732, 172 to 8842, and 115 to 1616ngg-1 lipid weight (lw), respectively. These concentrations were greater than those in blood of people from most developed countries but lower than those from most developing countries. The upper age group (>50years) had significant (p<0.05) greater concentrations of OCPs than other groups. Furthermore, concentrations of OCPs in males were significantly (p<0.05) greater than those in females. p, p'-DDE was the predominant congener and marker substance of DDTs, while β-HCH was the predominant congener and marker substance of HCHs. p, p'-DDE was more correlated with ∑OCPs (r2=0.830, p<0.05) than other individual OCPs, which suggested that p, p'-DDE is a good marker for accumulation of OCPs in blood plasma. Concentrations of individual OCPs were significantly correlated with not only their corresponding total concentrations in fishes from Hong Kong markets (r2=0.391, p=0.024), but also their bioaccessible fractions, which were estimated by an in vitro digestion method (r2=0.784, p=0.000). These results suggested that the in vitro gastrointestinal model is a more accurate method to evaluate accumulation of and health risks caused by dietary intake of OCPs. This study, which was the first systematic study to investigate concentrations of OCPs in blood of Hong Kong people, provides a baseline to which future measurements can be compared. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)18-25
JournalEnvironment International
Volume54
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2013

Bibliographical note

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Funding

This research was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2012M511868 ), the Seed Collaborative Research Fund from the State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution ( SCRF0003 ), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Sun Yat-sen University) (No. 12ykpy09 ), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31101071 ), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2012B031500005 ), and the Research Grants Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (Collaborative Research Fund, HKBU1/CRF/08 and Special Equipment Grant, HKBU09 ). The research was supported, in part, by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Project # 326415-07 ). Prof. Giesy was supported by the program of 2012 “ High Level Foreign Experts ” (# GDW20123200120 ) funded by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs , the P.R. China to Nanjing University and the Einstein Professor Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences . He was also supported by the Canada Research Chair Program , an at large Chair Professorship at the Department of Biology and Chemistry and State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong .

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Research Keywords

  • Asia
  • Bioaccumulation
  • Blood plasma
  • Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)
  • Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH)
  • Insecticides

RGC Funding Information

  • RGC-funded

Policy Impact

  • Cited in Policy Documents

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