Circulating levels of persistent organic pollutants associate in divergent ways to fat mass measured by DXA in humans

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 85; no. 3; pp. 335 - 343
• Main Authors: Rönn, Monika, Lind, Lars, Bavel, Bert van, Salihovic, Samira, Michaëlsson, Karl, Lind, Pia Monica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Adipose Tissue; Adipose Tissue - chemistry; Aged; analogs & derivatives; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; blood; Chemistry; chromatography; Circulating; Contaminants; DDE (pesticide); Dioxin; dioxins; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; DXA; Education; educational status; Environment. Living conditions; Environmental Pollutants; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Exact sciences and technology; Fat mass; Female; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; gender; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers - blood; hexachlorobenzene; High resolution; Humans; Kemi; Male; mass spectrometry; Medical sciences; men; Metabolic diseases; Obesity; Organogold Compounds; Organogold Compounds - blood; pathogenesis; Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); Pesticides; Pesticides - blood; physical activity; Pollutants; Pollution; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - blood; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analogs & derivatives; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - blood; Prospective Studies; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; women; Sweden; Europe; Sweden, Uppsala; LOD; Obesity; PCBs; BDE; DDE; HCB; Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); Pesticides; POPs; DXA; Fat mass; OCDD; TNK; PIVUS; OC; Dioxin; HRGC/HRMS; BMI; Human; Agricultural chemical product; Dioxin derivatives; Nutrition disorder; Epidemiology; Persistent organic pollutant; Chemical pollution; Absorption spectrometry; Health and environment; Public health; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.06.095

► We examined associations between POP levels in human plasma and fat mass. ► Fat mass was analyzed by DXA in 890 men and women. ► Concentrations of some persistent pesticides are positively related to fat mass. ► The low- and high-chlorinated PCBs show opposite associations to fat mass. ► The results implicate a complex role of POPs in obesity. Environmental contaminants have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity. To explore relations between persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and fat mass independently of body stature, using a cross-sectional design. In the Prospective Study of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS), fat mass was determined in 70-year-old subjects (n=890) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The plasma levels of 21 POPs (including 16 PCB congeners, 3 OC pesticides, 1 BDE47, and 1 dioxin) were measured by high resolution chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). Lipid-standardized plasma concentrations of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD), the PCBs 74, 99, 105 and 118, and the pesticides HCB, TNK, and DDE were all positively related to fat mass (p=0.03–0.0001). Subjects in the fifth quintile for PCB 105 showed a mean fat mass that was 4.8kg more than subjects in the first quintile. On the other hand, the PCBs 156, 157, 169, 170, 180, 189, 194, 206, and 209 were negatively related to fat mass (p=0.0001). For PCB 194, subjects in the fifth quintile showed a mean fat mass that was 10.8kg less than subjects in the first quintile. Following adjustment for smoking, physical activity, education level, height, lean mass, and gender, these results remained significant (p=0.01–0.0001) except for the PCBs 74 and 99. For some PCBs, the associations vs. fat mass were more pronounced in women than in men. Plasma concentrations of some pesticides are positively related to fat mass, while divergent associations are seen for the PCBs. These results implicate a complex role of POPs in obesity.