Pregnancy-related changes in fat mass and total DDT in breast milk and maternal adipose tissue

Changes in body fat mass during pregnancy and its effects on total DDT concentration i.e. the, sum of pp'-DDT (pp'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), and pp'-DDE (pp'-dichlorophenyldichloroethylene), in maternal milk and abdominal fat were studied in humans.

Forty mothers that delivered by Caesarean section and chose to breast feed consented in providing samples (abdominal fat and breast milk) for determination of organochlorine pesticides. Constitutional variables, such as the number of children, and estimators of body fat mass, based on height and body weight (before and after pregnancy), were measured.

Body mass index before and after pregnancy, as well as percent change in body weight, showed no significant difference in total DDT concentration in abdominal fat or breast milk. The only variable to significantly affect either body load of pesticides (abdominal fat) or its excretion (milk fat) was the number of children (p = 0.0117 and p = 0.0324, respectively). Correlation coefficients between DDT (in adipose tissue and milk fat) and variables related to body fatness (body mass index) were low and not significant. However, a close relationship was found between total DDT in adipose tissue and milk fat (r = 0.709; p = 0.0001).