Background

4-hydroxychlorothalonil (HCT, R182281), a transformation product of the fungicide chlorothalonil, was recently identified in human serum and breast milk. There are indications that HCT may be more toxic and environmentally persistent than chlorothalonil.

Objective

Our aim was to investigate serum concentrations of HCT in pregnant women in Sweden and Costa Rica.

Methods

We developed a quantitative analytical method for HCT using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. We measured HCT in 1808 serum samples from pregnant women from the general population in Sweden (1997–2015) and in 632 samples from 393 pregnant women from an agricultural population in Costa Rica (2010–2011). In Swedish samples, we assessed time trends and investigated seasonality. In the Costa Rican samples, we evaluated variability between and within women and explanatory variables of HCT concentrations.

Results

HCT was detected in all serum samples, and the limit of detection was 0.1 µg/L. The median HCT concentration in the Swedish samples was 4.1 µg/L (interquartile range [IQR] of 2.9 − 5.8 µg/L), and 3.9 times higher in the Costa Rican samples (median: 16.1 µg/L; IQR: 10.6 − 25.0 µg/L). We found clear seasonal variation with higher concentrations in the first half of each year among Swedish women. In the Costa Rican study, women working in agriculture and living near banana plantations had higher HCT concentrations, whilst higher parity and having a partner working in agriculture were associated with decreased HCT, and no clear seasonal pattern was observed.

Impact statement

For the first time, this study quantifies human exposure to the fungicide chlorothalonil and/or its transformation product 4-hydroxychlorothalonil (HCT, R182281) and finds higher serum concentrations in women from a tropical agricultural setting as compared with women from the general population in Sweden.

中文翻译：

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瑞典和哥斯达黎加孕妇血清中杀菌剂转化产物4-羟基百菌清的检测

背景

4-羟基百菌清（HCT，R182281）是杀菌剂百菌清的转化产物，最近在人血清和母乳中被发现。有迹象表明，HCT 的毒性和环境持久性可能比百菌清更高。

客观的

我们的目的是调查瑞典和哥斯达黎加孕妇的 HCT 血清浓度。

方法

我们开发了一种使用液相色谱串联质谱法的 HCT 定量分析方法。我们测量了瑞典普通人群孕妇的 1808 份血清样本（1997-2015 年）和哥斯达黎加农业人群 393 名孕妇的 632 份血清样本（2010-2011 年）的 HCT。在瑞典样本中，我们评估了时间趋势并调查了季节性。在哥斯达黎加样本中，我们评估了女性之间和女性内部的变异性以及 HCT 浓度的解释变量。

结果

所有血清样品均检测到HCT，检出限为0.1 µg/L。瑞典样本中的 HCT 浓度中位数为 4.1 µg/L（四分位数间距 [IQR] 为 2.9 – 5.8 µg/L），哥斯达黎加样本中的 HCT 浓度高出 3.9 倍（中位数：16.1 µg/L；IQR：10.6 – 25.0）微克/升）。我们发现瑞典女性存在明显的季节性变化，每年上半年浓度较高。在哥斯达黎加的研究中，从事农业工作和居住在香蕉种植园附近的女性的 HCT 浓度较高，而较高的胎次和拥有从事农业工作的伴侣则与 HCT 降低有关，并且没有观察到明显的季节性模式。

影响报告

这项研究首次量化了人类接触杀菌剂百菌清和/或其转化产物 4-羟基百菌清（HCT，R182281）的情况，并发现热带农业环境中的女性血清浓度高于瑞典普通人群的女性。