RESUMEN
A human biomonitoring study was carried out in the province of Trento, northern Italy, on two groups of women residing in areas with presumably different levels of exposure to polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs). The aim was characterization of the possible impact of a steel plant and an urban environment on the internal doses of these contaminants. The areas investigated were the following: (i) the municipality of Borgo Valsugana, where a steel plant has been operating for the last 30 years, and (ii) the city of Trento. Ten women were enrolled from each area, and breast milk samples were collected from each woman. The amounts of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs were analyzed in all samples, and the data obtained were evaluated by descriptive and multivariate statistical approaches. For all samples, the concentrations observed were in the current acceptable concentration range observed in Europe. The descriptive statistics, however, clearly showed that some differences existed between the two groups: the PCDD, PCDF and DL-PCB concentrations were consistently higher in the Trento group of women living in the area surrounding the steel plant. Congener-profile analysis was carried out on both groups, and an appropriate multivariate approach, such as classical factor analysis (CFA), was used to investigate possible differential exposure sources. The application of this approach made it possible to show the quantitative and qualitative differences that characterized the two areas.
Asunto(s)
Benzofuranos/análisis , Exposición a Riesgos Ambientales/análisis , Leche Humana/química , Bifenilos Policlorados/análisis , Dibenzodioxinas Policloradas/análisis , Polímeros/análisis , Adulto , Ciudades , Femenino , Humanos , Italia , Metalurgia , MadresRESUMEN
Fish and fishery products may represent one of the main sources of dietary exposure to persistent toxic substances (PTSs) such as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls; polybromodiphenyl ethers; organochlorine pesticides; perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate; and inorganic mercury and methyl mercury. In this study, PTS contamination of Mediterranean fish and crustaceans caught in Italian coastal waters was investigated in order to increase the representativeness of the occurrence database for wild species. The objectives were to verify the suitability of regulatory limits for PTSs, identify background concentrations values, if any, and examine the possible sources of variability when assessing the chemical body burdens of aquatic species. Twelve wild species of commercial interest and two farmed fish species were chosen. Excluding methyl mercury, chemical concentrations found in wild species fell generally towards the low ends of the concentration ranges found in Europe according to EFSA database and were quite lower than the tolerable maximum levels established in the European Union; farmed fish always showed contamination levels quite lower than those detected in wild species. The data obtained for wild species seemed to confirm the absence of local sources of contamination in the chosen sampling areas; however, species contamination could exceed regulatory levels even in the absence of specific local sources of contamination as a result of the position in the food web and natural variability in species' lifestyle. A species-specific approach to the management of contamination in aquatic organisms is therefore suggested as an alternative to a general approach based only on contaminant body burden. A chemical-specific analysis performed according to organism position in the food chain strengthened the need to develop this approach.