a generalized exposure which tends to decrease · Inserm, Science for health

A review of the exhibition of adults to persistent organic pollutants in France has just been drawn up by scientists from Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP) in Villejuif. Possibly dangerous for health, this exposure is massive, although it tends to decrease since the adoption of public policies restricting their use. This work also describes a certain number of factors associated with greater exposure to different substances.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a heterogeneous group of chemical substances used for industrial or commercial purposes. Many of them are used in plastics, electronics, paints, textiles, etc. Others are used in agriculture. They all have in common that they degrade very slowly in the environment – ​​over several tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years –, are widespread due to their mobility over long distances, and accumulate in adipose tissues living organisms, leading to an amplification effect throughout the food chain. Food is the main source of exposure, but air and contact with certain products containing them also contribute. However, these substances represent a potential health hazard. They can disrupt hormonal systems, induce a oxidative stress or inflammation, so that exposure to POPs can cause cancer, reproductive disorders or even cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. To reduce exposure levels, an international treaty – the Stockholm Convention – was signed in 2001: it aims to reduce the production, use and release into nature of these pollutants. Several classes of substances are concerned: organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) banned in France since 1987, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

To enrich the data on levels of exposure to POPs in the general population, the group of Francesca Mancini, researcher Inserm at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP) in Villejuif, measured a certain number of them in more than 450 participants of the E3N Générations cohort. This cohort includes approximately 100,000 women recruited in 1990 and still being followed. The researchers analyzed blood samples that had been collected from these women between 1994 and 1999, stored frozen in a biobank since then. In a second step, the team compared the results of these analyses with those obtained by other teams from more recent samples, collected from adult women during the National Nutrition Health Study conducted in 2006–2007 and the Esteban study conducted between 2014 and 2016, both coordinated by Santé publique France.

Widespread exposure

Seventy-three POPs were quantified in 468 samples from the E3N cohort. Among the substances studied, 41 were found at significant thresholds in more than three-quarters of the participants. However, the measured levels were most often lower in more recent samples. This overall trend is encouraging and marks a decline in exposure levels in France following the various protective measures taken by the public authorities. However, great caution must be exercised in interpreting the results in detail, as the analysis methods are not identical from one study to another and the substances measured are not always the same. In addition, some substitutes for now-banned POPs were not measured in these studies: their quantity in the blood of the French may have increased over the last 10 to 20 years. ” warns Francesca Mancini.

Exposure profiles

The work carried out using the E3N Générations cohort also made it possible to identify six profiles of higher exposure to certain POPs: one profile associated with higher exposure to PCBs and nonachlors, another for organochlorine pesticides and certain PCBs, a third for PFAS, and one for exposure to PBDEs… ” Individual, socio-demographic and lifestyle factors are associated with these different profiles. “, explains Francesca Mancini. For example, the team highlighted the important role of diet and in particular the consumption of fruit and vegetables, fish and cold cuts in some of the profiles mentioned above. Place of residence, age or variations in body weight (due to the accumulation of certain substances in the adipose tissue) also come into play.

« This study describes for the first time the level of exposure to a large number of POPs among adults in France in the 1990s. And it allows us to make an initial description of the evolution of this exposure over the 20 years that followed.concludes Francesca Mancini. This work also recalls the importance of the participation of the French in national cohorts to continue biomonitoring and the usefulness of evaluating the impact of these exposures on health. ” she insists. Based on data from the E3N Générations cohort, the team will publish results on this subject in a few months, associating exposure profiles with possible health problems. To be continued…

Francesca Romana Mancini is an Inserm researcher in the Exposome and Heredity team at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health (unit 1018 Inserm/UVSQ/Université Paris-Saclay), Villejuif.

Source : P. Frenoy et coll. Blood levels of persistent organic pollutants among women in France in the 90’s : main profiles and individual determinants. Environ ResJune 20, 2024; doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.119468

Author: A. R.

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