Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov 15;79(1):197.
doi: 10.1186/s13690-021-00717-x.

Bio-surveillance of environmental pollutants in the population of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): a small pilot study

Trésor Bayebila Menanzambi  1 , Patrice Dufour  2   3 , Catherine Pirard  2   3 , Jean Nsangu  4 , Jean-Pierre Mufusama  4 , Jérémie Mbinze Kindenge  4 , Roland Marini Djang'eing'a  3 , Corinne Charlier  2   3
Affiliations

Bio-surveillance of environmental pollutants in the population of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): a small pilot study

Trésor Bayebila Menanzambi et al. Arch Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Environmental pollutants are known to be ubiquitous and may present toxic effects (endocrine-disruption properties, carcinogenicity …) and represent a real threat to human health. The aim of the present pilot study was to assess the content of environmental pollutants (inorganic, persistent, and non-persistent pollutants) in biological samples (urine, serum, and whole blood), collected from volunteers in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to identify pollutants of interest and to design a protocol for a larger scale study.

Methods: From randomly selected 15 volunteers living in Kinshasa, aged from 25 to 66 years, (mean age = 43.4 years), including 10 men and 5 women, urine, whole blood, and serum samples were used in this study to estimate the contents in these environmental pollutants, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

Results: When compared to data nationally and internationally available, the preliminary outcomes of this study indicated a very high level of exposure to environmental pollutants in the population of Kinshasa, especially for heavy metals, parabens and triclosan. To a lesser extent, contamination measured for glyphosate, phthalates, organochlorine pesticides, pyrethroids and dialkylphosphate pesticides was also significant. In contrast, the investigated population of Kinshasa was found to be weakly exposed to other persistent organic pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls, brominated flame retardants, phenolic organohalogens, and perfluoroalkyl substances.

Conclusion: Although the biologic fluids were collected from a limited number of volunteers (n = 15), the results of the present report clearly indicate that the population of Kinshasa is not spared by the investigated environmental pollutants. Moreover, this study gives us important information to design a larger scale study protocol.

Keywords: Bio-surveillance; Environmental pollutants; Kinshasa; Serum; Small pilot study; Urine; Whole blood.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no competing interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Urinary concentrations resulting from exposure by phthalates at international scale. MEP: Monoethyl Phthalate; MnBP: mono-n-butyl phthalate; MiBP: mono-iso-butyl phthalate; MEHP: mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Urinary concentrations resulting from exposure by pyrethroïd and chlorpyrifos metabolites at international scale. 3-PBA: 3-phenoxybenzoic acid; c-DCCA: cis-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid; t-DCCA: trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid; TCPY: 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pirard C, Compere S, Firquet K, Charlier C. The current environmental levels of endocrine disruptors (mercury, cadmium, organochlorine pesticides and PCBs) in a Belgian adult population and their predictors of exposure. Int J Hygiene Environ Health. 2018;221(2):211–222. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.10.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. UNEP/WHO . State of the science of endocrine disrupting chemicals. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Environment Programme/World Health Organization; 2012.
    1. Cohn BA, Cirillo PM, Christianson RE. Prenatal DDT exposure and testicular cancer: a nested case control study. Arch Environ Occup Health. 2010;65(3):127–134. doi: 10.1080/19338241003730887. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wagner-Schuman M, Richardson JR, Auinger P, Braun JM, Lanphear BP, Epstein JN, et al. Association of pyrethroid pesticide exposure with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children. Environ Health. 2015;14:44. doi: 10.1186/s12940-015-0030-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sabatier P, Poulenard J, Fanget B, Reyss J-L, Develle A-L, Wilhelm B, et al. Long-term relationships among pesticide applications, mobility, and soil erosion in a vineyard watershed. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014;111(44):15647–15652. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1411512111. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources