Toxicology of Organochlorines: Implications of Presence in Breast Milk

Background: Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are compounds that have been widely used in agriculture to control pests and also in the field of public health to control of paludism dissemination and other vectors. Currently, they are banned in most countries because they constitute a great threat to human health and ecosystems. The high affinity for adipose tissue and its slow metabolism place OCPs in the group of bioacumulative substances. Hence, OCPs passage into breast milk is high and involves a severe risk for infants.

Objective: Analyze the toxicity including toxicodynamic and toxicokinetic of organochlorine (OC) and evaluate perinatal and infant toxicity after its exposure through breast milk.

Methods: A desk top systematic literature research was carried out to explore the toxicity of OCPs. We conducted an extensive literature review using databases such as Web of Knowledge, Google search engine, Science Direct, Medline, Scopus, Lilacs databases and involved observational studies on low-dose exposure in humans.

Results: 1) OCPs constitute a real threat to ecosystems and public health. 2) They are concentrated in breast milk and breastfeeding contributes to worsen this exposure during the lactation period. 3) They have severe effects on CNS and the immune system, inducing mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, teratogenesis, metabolic and reproductive abnormalities 3) The human fetus and infant exposure to OCPs cause learning disabilities, low intelligence quotient, attention deficit and hyperactivity.

Conclusions: For children, the best way to determine the risk of OC exposure is the analysis of breast milk samples and milk producing animals.