Maternal origin and other determinants of cord serum organochlorine compound concentrations in infants from the general population.

Organochlorine compounds (OCs), including pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), were determined in the serum of 499 cord blood samples from infants born during 2004-2006 in Valencia (Spain). The concentrations were found to be correlated with the region of origin of the mothers. Those from Latin-America gave birth to infants with higher 4,4'-DDE and 4,4'-DDT concentrations than those from Europe. On the contrary, European mothers had children with higher concentrations of hexachlorobenzene and PCBs than Latin-American mothers. These associations were independent of maternal period of stage in Valencia. Data examination with a multivariate model including maternal region of origin described 39-44% of the concentration variability of 4,4'-DDE and total PCBs with statistic significance. Other maternal variables found to significantly influence OC burden in newborns were age, education level, and body mass index (BMI). In general, older women, with higher education standards and higher BMI had infants with higher OC serum concentrations than younger women, with lower education scores and low BMI. The increase of 4,4'-DDT in newborns from mothers with high education levels and high BMI suggest that dissimilar maternal diets may be at the origin of some of these OC body burden differences.