Exposure to Organochlorine Pollutants and Impact on Development in the Peripubertal Age in Guadeloupe

The French West Indies are permanently polluted by chlordecone. It is an organochlorine insecticide used from 1973 to 1993 in Guadeloupe and Martinique to control banana root borers. Its physico-chemical properties give it great stability and are at the origin of its persistence in the environment. Soil, flora and wildlife pollution from chlordecone in the Caribbean was first documented shortly after its introduction in 1973. However, it was not until 1999 that this pollution was extended to waters intended for human consumption and to various local, vegetable and animal, land and aquatic foodstuffs. The population is also affected, as confirmed by impregnation studies, with exposure nowadays occurring mainly through the consumption of contaminated food. The contamination of the French West Indies populations by this insecticide raises many questions about its possible health consequences. In order to assess the effects of chlordecone exposure on child development in Guadeloupian children, a longitudinal and prospective study, the Timoun mother-child cohort, was initiated. Between 2004 and 2007, women in the second trimester of pregnancy who planned to give birth in the public hospitals of Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre (accounting for 70% of all deliveries in Guadeloupe) were invited to participate in the study. Children born to these included women have been enrolled to several follow-ups during the last years (3, 7, 18 months and 7 years of age).