Exposure of Brazilian pregnant women to perfluorinated compounds in blood: levels and correlations with potential health implications.

• Grant number: 16/23372-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: September 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Toxicological Analysis
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Barbosa Júnior
• Grantee: Marília Cristina Oliveira Souza
• Supervisor: Kurunthachalam Kannan
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Wadsworth Center, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/19665-8 - Determination of the main representatives of polybrominated diphenyl ethers class (PBDEs) in fish, eggs and milk employing microextraction packed sorbent (MEPS) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), BP.DR

Abstract

In recent years, with modernization and technological developments, the world's population is exposed to several unknown or "new" toxicants, which are often referred to as emerging contaminants. Among them, the flame retardants (FR) are a class of chemical substances used to reduce the fire hazards in materials used in buildings. These compounds have become a topic of human health concern due to their potential to induce adverse effects, including hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, embryotoxicty, immunological and endocrine changes, and carcinogenicity. Biomonitoring of exposure to emerging environmental contaminants is a common practice following in the developed countries for over a decade. The data obtained from biomonitoring studies assist researchers and public health agencies to perform risk and exposure assessments, which can be used to mitigate exposure to these compounds by vulnerable populations (e.g., children, pregnant women) as well as the reduce the release of these compounds into the environment. However, in Brazil, biomonitoring studies of human exposure are still scarce. Little is known about exposure of Brazilians to flame retardants used in electronics and other household products. In this sense, the aim of the present study is determinate polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) levels in blood samples of pregnant women living in Ribeirão Preto City, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, and to correlate the levels with potential health outcomes, such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and hypertension. In this way, it is expected that the results of the present work may contribute for a better knowledge about exposure to FRs/PBDEs, in our population and their associated health risks.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

OLIVEIRA SOUZA, MARILIA CRISTINA; SARAIVA, MARIA CONCEICAO PEREIRA; HONDA, MASATO; BARBIERI, MARCO ANTONIO; BETTIOL, HELOISA; BARBOSA, FERNANDO; KANNAN, KURUNTHACHALAM. Exposure to per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in pregnant Brazilian women and its association with fetal growth. Environmental Research, v. 187, AUG 2020. (18/24069-3, 16/23372-9, 15/19665-8, 08/53593-0)