Temporal trends of 4-Hydroxychlorothalonil in maternal serum samples, 1997-2015

Sammanfattning: Agricultural fungicides are extensively used for infestation control, resulting in residues of these compounds in food. Human exposure to environmental contaminants might occur via different routes, such as inhalation, skin contact, or ingestion. Exposure to several pesticides has been associated with adverse human health outcomes. Our aim was to assess the stability as well as temporal trends of a biomarker for the fungicide Chlorothalonil (CHT) in human serum. CHT has been classified as a probable human carcinogen that has shown toxicity in the environment, fish, and mice. Samples had been collected from pregnant women (n = 1809 in Scania, Sweden, from 1997 to 2015. The concentration of the biomarker 4-hydroxychlorothalonil (4-OH-CHT) was analyzedby Occupational- and Environmental medicine south (OEM south) in human serum using LC–MS/MS. The purpose of this study, to evaluatetemporal trends in biomarker concentrations (log-transformed) using linear regression was carried out. A literature search was used to gather information about CHT. The biomarker of chlorothalonil (4-OH-CHT), was detected in 100% of the population in all sampling years. The biomarker´s median concentration was 4,1 ng/mL. No temporal trends were found for 4-OH-CHT(This means no annual change, indicated by β, = 0,0% change/year in Table 6). This is to our best knowledge the first study evaluating this factor in human samples. Further studies are needed to evaluate possible risks for offspring and mothers.