Body Burdens of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins, Dibenzofurans, and Biphenyls and Their Relations to Estrogen Metabolism in Pregnant Women

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs, dioxins), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are environmental endocrine disruptors that have half-lives of 7–10 years in the human body and have toxicities that probably include carcinogenesis. A high ratio of 4-hydroxyl estradiol (4-OH-E(2)) to 2-hydroxyl estradiol (2-OH-E(2)) has been suggested as a potential biomarker for estrogen-dependent neoplasms. In this cohort study of maternal–fetal pairs, we examined the relationship of PCDD/PCDF and PCB exposure to levels of estrogen metabolites in the sera of 50 pregnant women 25–34 years of age from central Taiwan. Maternal blood was collected during the third trimester, and the placenta was collected at delivery. We measured 17 dioxin congeners, 12 dioxin-like PCBs, and 6 indicator PCBs in placenta using gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Estrogen metabolites in maternal serum were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The ratio of 4-OH-E(2):2-OH-E(2) decreased with increasing exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (β = −0.124, p = 0.004 by the general linear regression model, R = 0.4). Meanwhile, serum levels of 4-OH-E(2) increased with increasing concentrations of high-chlorinated PCDFs (i.e., 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-hepta-CDF: β = 0.454, p = 0.03, R = 0.30). Altered estrogen catabolism might be associated with body burdens of PCDDs/PCDFs. Our study suggests that exposure to PCDDs/PCDFs significantly affects estrogen metabolism. Therefore, PCDD/PCDF exposure must be considered when using the OH-E(2) ratio as a breast cancer marker.