Exposure to Chlordecone and Male Fertility in Guadeloupe

Epidemiology:Volume 17(6) SupplNovember 2006p S372
Exposure to Chlordecone and Male Fertility in Guadeloupe (French West
Indies)
Multigner, L*; Kadhel, P†; Huc-Terki, F‡; Thome, J P§; Janky, E†; Auger, J¶
*INSERM U625, Rennes. †Gynecologie - Obstetrique, CHU Guadeloupe, Pointe a Pitre.
‡CIMT Guadeloupe, Basse Terre. §Laboratoire Ecologie Animale - Ecotoxicologie, Liege.
¶Biologie Reproduction - CECOS, CHU Cochin, Paris.
Introduction:
Chlordecone, a chlorinated insecticide, is one of the 17 chemicals currently regulated by the
Stockholm convention on persistant organic pollutants. Toxicological studies have shown that
chlordecone is an endocrine disruptor which interferes with reproduction, including male
fertility. In 1975, male workers acutely exposed to high levels of chlordecone in a factory in
Hopewell (Virginia) during its manufacture experienced reduced sperm count and reduced
sperm motility. Chlordecone was used from early 1970 until 1993 in the French West Indies
in banana plantations for the control of banana root borer. A series of measurements
undertaken from 1999 revealed a significant chlordecone contamination of the natural
environments of French West Indies, including soils, river waters, spring waters, vegetables
and animal local food resources. We aimed to determine the current level of chlordecone body
burden in the adult male population in Guadeloupe and to investigate its relationship with
fertility.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess semen quality, reproductive hormones and
chlordecone concentration in the blood of 100 healthy men regularly followed by
occupational physicians. Semen analyses were carried out according to WHO
recommendations. Hormones were measured by conventional radioimmunological
procedures. Gas chromatography coupled to electron capture detection was used to measure
chlordecone in serum.
Results:
Serum chlordecone was detected in 88 of 100 men (limit of detection ~1 ng/ml) and
quantified in 78 of them (limit of quantification ~3 ng/ml). The geometric mean serum level
was 8,2 ng/ml (range: 3,1 - 104,5). Slightly levels were found in banana workers (GM: 10,7;
3,3 - 104,5) when compared to men who worked in non-agricultural sectors and had never
applied pesticides in any circumstances (GM: 8,4; 3,1 - 46,6). Seminal characteristics (semen
volume, sperm concentration, output, motility and morphology) as well FSH, LH, Inhibin B,
testosterone and estradiol serum levels showed no significant correlation with chlordecone
concentration in blood.
Conclusions:
We show high levels of body contamination by chlordecone in Guadeloupean male
population. Occupational exposure but mainly local food resources consumption may explain
such impregnation. However, current exposure levels are not associated with a significant
effect on seminal quality or blood reproductive hormone levels. These results are in
agreement with previous observation showing that the threshold for abnormally low seminal
characteristics was of 1000 ng/ml in workers victims of the Hopewell factory disaster.
© 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.