Marie-Laure Bidondo

Bisphenol-A and phthalates contamination of urine samples by catheters in the Elfe pilot study: implications for large-scale biomonitoring studies.

Exposure to phthalates and Bisphenol A could cause developmental and reproductive toxicity. This study provides a first assessment of these exposures for more than 250 French pregnant women. The median concentrations of total and free Bisphenol A in urine were similar to those in other studies except the highest concentrations (5% of women had total and free Bisphenol A >50μg/L). Our study highlights high levels of Di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate metabolites in pregnant women, suggesting recent exposure, probably in hospital. Differences between types of delivery (caesarean vs. natural) support this hypothesis. This is a significant implication for large-scale biomonitoring studies among this population.

Urinary arsenic levels in the French adult population: The French National Nutrition and Health Study, 2006–2007

The French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS) was conducted to describe dietary intakes, nutritional status, physical activity, and levels of various biomarkers for environmental chemicals (heavy metals and pesticides) in the French population (adults aged 18-74 years and children aged 3-17 years living in continental France in 2006-2007). The aim of this paper was to describe the distributions of total arsenic and the sum of iAs+MMA+DMA in the general adult population, and to present their main risk factors. In the arsenic study, 1500 and 1515 adults (requested to avoid seafood intake in the previous 3 days preceding urine collection) were included respectively for the analysis of the sum of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and its two metabolites, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), and for the total arsenic. Results were presented as geometric means and selected percentiles of urinary arsenic concentrations (μg/L) and creatinine-adjusted urinary arsenic (μg/g of creatinine) for total arsenic, and the sum of inorganic arsenic and metabolites (iAs+MMA+DMA). The geometric mean concentration of the sum of iAs+MMA+DMA in the adult population living in France was 3.34 μg/g of creatinine [3.23-3.45] (3.75 μg/L [3.61-3.90]) with a 95th percentile of 8.9 μg/g of creatinine (10.68 μg/L). The geometric mean concentration of total arsenic was 11.96 μg/g of creatinine [11.41-12.53] (13.42 μg/L [12.77-14.09]) with a 95th percentile of 61.29 μg/g of creatinine (72.75 μg/L). Urinary concentrations of total arsenic and iAS+MMA+DMA were influenced by sociodemographic and economic factors, and by risk factors such as consumption of seafood products and of wine. In our study, covariate-adjusted geometric means demonstrated several slight differences, due to consumption of fish, shellfish/crustaceans or wine. This study provides the first reference value for arsenic in a representative sample of the French population not particularly exposed to high levels of arsenic (10 μg/g of creatinine). It shows that urinary arsenic concentrations in the French adult population (in particular concentrations of iAs+MMA+DMA) were relatively low compared with foreign data.

A review of the epidemiological methods used to investigate the health impacts of air pollution around major industrial areas.

We performed a literature review to investigate how epidemiological studies have been used to assess the health consequences of living in the vicinity of industries. 77 papers on the chronic effects of air pollution around major industrial areas were reviewed. Major health themes were cancers (27 studies), morbidity (25 studies), mortality (7 studies), and birth outcome (7 studies). Only 3 studies investigated mental health. While studies were available from many different countries, a majority of papers came from the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. Several studies were motivated by concerns from the population or by previous observations of an overincidence of cases. Geographical ecological designs were largely used for studying cancer and mortality, including statistical designs to quantify a relationship between health indicators and exposure. Morbidity was frequently investigated through cross-sectional surveys on the respiratory health of children. Few multicenter studies were performed. In a majority of papers, exposed areas were defined based on the distance to the industry and were located from <2 km to >20 km from the plants. Improving the exposure assessment would be an asset to future studies. Criteria to include industries in multicenter studies should be defined.

Levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in human milk from different regions of France

We report on the pilot study carried out before the start of the Elfe project (French longitudinal study from childhood). A total of 44 samples of mature human milk were collected at home 8 weeks after delivery. A total of 7 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), 10 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), 12 dioxin-like (DL) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and 6 non dioxin-like (NDL)-PCBs were measured. For total TEQ (PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs), the geometric mean concentration was 17.81 pg TEQ(WHO05)/g lipids. Relative PCDD, PCDF, and DL-PCB contributions to the arithmetic mean TEQ(WHO05) were 38%, 18%, and 44%, respectively. The use of TEF(WHO05) instead of TEF(WHO98) resulted in a 27% reduction of the total TEQ value. Although PCDD levels did not significantly change (less than 0.5% increase), PCDF and DL-PCB levels both decreased by 35% and 38%, respectively. Levels have been compared to data obtained during a previous non-reported national study conducted in 1998 (TEF(WHO98)) in French lactaria (n=244). The mean of PCDD/Fs has decreased about 39.4% (18.8 pg TEQ(WHO98)/g lipids in 1998 vs 11.4 pg TEQ(WHO98)/g lipids in pilot study), respectively 41.5% for PCDDs (10.6 pg TEQ(WHO98)/g lipids in 1998 vs 6.2 pg TEQ(WHO98)/g lipids in pilot study) and 36.7% for PCDFs (7.9 pg TEQ(WHO98)/g lipids in 1998 vs 5.0 pg TEQ(WHO98)/g lipids in pilot study). For the sum of the 6 NDL-PCBs, the 2007 geometric mean concentration in milk was 176.3 ng/g lipids. The arithmetic mean lipid concentration in 2007 breast milk was 26.4 g/l (range from 6.0 to 46.7 g/l). A PCDD/F and DL-PCB daily intake was estimated to be 62.3 pg TEQ(WHO05)/kg body weight per day (85.0 pg TEQ(WHO98)/kg body weight per day) for a baby of 5 kg of body weight fed daily with 700 ml of maternal milk containing 25 g/l of lipids.

Cancer incidence in adults living in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in France, based on data from the French Network of Cancer Registries: Cancer Incidence Around French Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) release toxic emissions into the environment that may affect neighboring populations. This ecologic study was designed to investigate the possibility of an excess incidence of cancer in the vicinity of French NPPs by examining the incidence by municipality of 12 types of cancer in the population aged 15 years and older during the 1995–2011 period. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from towns of residence to the NPP. Using regression models, we assessed the risk of cancer in a 20‐km zone around NPPs and observed an excess incidence of bladder cancer (Relative Risk (RR), 95% Credibility Interval (95% CI)) in men and women (RRmen = 1.08; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.17 and RRwomen = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.39). Women living within the 20‐km proximity areas had a significantly reduced risk of thyroid cancer (RRwomen = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.77, 0.96). No excess risk of hematologic malignancies in either sex was seen. The higher than expected incidence of bladder cancer may be due to an excess incidence localized around the Flamanville NPP and the nearby La Hague nuclear waste treatment center, which is a source of chemical contaminants, many (including arsenic) of them known risk factors for bladder cancer. Differences in medical practices could explain the reduced risk of thyroid cancer. In this first study of adults living near NPPs in France, cancer incidence is significantly higher than in the references populations for one of the cancer types studied: bladder cancer.