Exposure of the French population to organotins. National Biomonitoring Program, Esteban 2014–2016.
Organotin compounds are organic compounds containing at least one covalent bond between a carbon atom and a tin atom. Most are man-made. They have a long persistence in the environment. In its organic form, tin is used in the manufacturing process of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) as a thermal stabilizer. It is found notably in food packaging and PVC pipes. In a trisubstituted form, tin has been used as a pesticide and in antifouling paints. Organic tin compounds are skin and mucous membrane irritants capable of causing digestive disorders. The main adverse effects in humans, following repeated exposure, are neurotoxic, immunotoxic, and reprotoxic. They are suspected of being endocrine disruptors in humans. None have been classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In France, there are no studies providing data on organotin exposure levels in the general population. The Esteban cross-sectional study (Health Study on the Environment, Biomonitoring, Physical Activity, and Nutrition) measured, for the first time, organotin exposure levels in the French mainland population aged 6 to 74 years. The analyses presented in this report were conducted using subsamples of 600 adults and 199 children included in the study between April 2014 and March 2016. Previously, these levels had been measured in the pilot study of the perinatal component of the national biomonitoring program. As in the Esteban study, these compounds were rarely quantified in the population of women who gave birth in 2007 in metropolitan France. Abroad, organotins have not been measured in biomonitoring programs. Given the low rate of organotin quantification in the French population and the strong regulatory pressure limiting their reintroduction into the environment, continuing biomonitoring of organotins in the general population does not appear to be a priority for future biomonitoring studies.
Author(s): Fillol Clémence, Oleko Amivi, Saoudi Abdessattar, Zeghnoun Abdelkrim
Publishing year: 2023
Pages: 34 p.
Collection: Studies and Surveys
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