Comparison of organochlorine pesticide levels between human blood serum and adipose tissue

Abstract

The organochlorine pesticides, being lipophilic compounds, show extremely high thermodynamic stability and resistance to degradation processes in the environment and in living organisms. They accumulate in lipid rich tissues and distribute between transport compartment (blood) and store compartment (adipose tissue). The purpose of this study is to make a comparison between organochlorine pesticide levels in blood serum and adipose tissue and calculate the differences in their concentrations based on routine biomonitoring study. One hundred and twenty six pair samples of adipose tissue and blood serum during autopsies as a case study were taken and analyzed in Los Mochis Sinaloa, México. Among organochlorine pesticides, higher concentrations correspond to b-HCH, pp’DDE and op’DDT in blood serum lipids; and pp’DDT shows higher concentrations in adipose tissue. Using statistical comparisons, we found a significant linear association of lipid serum organochlorine pesticide concentrations with that in adipose tissue. This concludes that serum lipid organochlorine pesticide concentrations represent an important indicator for both human biological matrices.