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The association between local fish consumption and DDE, mirex, and HCB concentrations in the breast milk of Mohawk women at Akwesasne

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 11, pages 381–388 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the extent to which the consumption of local fish contaminated with p,p′-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE), mirex, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) has impacted the concentrations of these compounds in the milk of nursing Mohawk women residing along the St. Lawrence River. From 1986 to 1992, 97 Mohawk women were interviewed, and each donated a one-time sample of at least 50 ml of breast milk. The comparison population consisted of 154 Caucasians from other rural areas in New York State. After adjustment for potential confounders, Mohawk mothers who gave birth from 1986 to 1990 had significantly higher geometric mean p,p′-DDE milk concentrations than did the control group, but no significant differences were observed from 1991 to 1992. In contrast, mirex was significantly elevated among the Mohawks throughout the study period, while HCB showed no difference at any point. Mohawk women with the greatest estimated cumulative lifetime exposure to p,p′-DDE from local fish consumption had a significantly higher geometric mean milk level of that compound relative to control women, but no differences in mirex or HCB concentrations in breast milk by local fish consumption were found. The reduction in breast milk p,p′-DDE concentrations among the Mohawk women from 1986 to 1990 parallels a corresponding decrease in local fish consumption, and may be the result of the advisories that have been issued over the past decade recommending against the consumption of local fish by pregnant and nursing Mohawk women. Elevations in the concentrations of mirex in the breast milk of the Mohawks are consistent with the fact that it is a common contaminant in the region and throughout the Lake Ontario–St. Lawrence River Basin.

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Abbreviations

p,p′-DDE:

p,p′-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene

HCB:

hexachlorobenze

ppm:

parts per million

ppb:

parts per billion

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided in part by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (Grant # H75/ATH290026) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Grant # P42 ES04913). The authors express their appreciation to the following persons for their past and present help: Ann Casey, Susan Dzurica, Patricia Roundpoint, Kenneth Jock, Trudy Lauzon, F. Henry Lickers, Judith Quinn, and Bao-zhu Yang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Troy, New York, USA

    EDWARD F FITZGERALD & SYNI-AN HWANG

  2. New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Occupational Health, Troy, New York, USA

    DEBRA A DERES

  3. New York State Department of Health, Laboratory of Organic Analytical Chemistry, Wadsworth Center, Albany, New York, USA

    BRIAN BUSH

  4. Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, New York, USA

    KATSI COOK & PRISCILLA WORSWICK

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  1. EDWARD F FITZGERALD
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  2. SYNI-AN HWANG
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  3. DEBRA A DERES
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  4. BRIAN BUSH
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Correspondence to EDWARD F FITZGERALD.

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FITZGERALD, E., HWANG, SA., DERES, D. et al. The association between local fish consumption and DDE, mirex, and HCB concentrations in the breast milk of Mohawk women at Akwesasne. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 11, 381–388 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500180

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