Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
CONTEXT: Chlordecone, an environmentally persistent organochlorine insecticide used intensively in banana culture in the French West Indies until 1993, has permanently polluted soils and contaminated foodstuffs. Consumption of contaminated food is the main source of exposure nowadays. We sought to identify main contributors to blood chlordecone concentration (BCC) and to validate an exposure indicator based on food intakes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) completed by a sample of 194 pregnant women to estimate their dietary exposure to chlordecone and compared it to blood levels. In a first approach, chlordecone daily intake was estimated as the product of daily eaten quantity of 214 foodstuffs, multiplied by their chlordecone content, and summed over all items. We then predicted individual blood chlordecone concentration with empirical weight regression models based on frequency of food consumption, and without contamination data. RESULTS: Among the 191 subjects who had BCC determination, 146 (76%) had detectable values and mean BCC was 0.86 ng/mL (range < LOD-13.2). Mean per capita dietary intake of chlordecone was estimated at 3.3 microg/day (range: 0.1-22.2). Blood chlordecone levels were significantly correlated with food exposure predicted from the empirical weight models (r=0.47, p<0.0001) and, to a lesser extent, with chlordecone intake estimated from food consumption and food contamination data (r=0.20, p=0.007). Main contributors to chlordecone exposure included seafood, root vegetables, and Cucurbitaceous. CONCLUSION: These results show that the Timoun FFQ provides valid estimates of chlordecone exposure. Estimates from empirical weight models correlated better with blood levels of chlordecone than did estimates from the dietary intake assessment.
ISSN: 0013-9351

inserm-00517109
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00517109
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00517109/document
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00517109/file/Pesticide_exposureofpregnantwomeninGuadeloupe.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.envres.2009.10.015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND: The insecticide chlordecone was extensively used in the French West Indies to control banana root borer. Its persistence in soils has led to the widespread pollution of the environment, and human beings are still exposed to this chemical. Chlordecone has been shown to impair neurological and behavioural functions in rodents when exposed gestationally or neonatally. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of prenatal and postnatal exposure to chlordecone on the cognitive, visual, and motor development of 7-month-old infants from Guadeloupe. METHODS: Infants were tested at 7 months (n=153). Visual recognition memory and processing speed were assessed with the Fagan Tests of Infant Intelligence (FTII), visual acuity with the Teller Acuity Card, and fine motor development with the Brunet-Lezine. Samples of cord blood and breast milk at 3 months (n=88) were analyzed for chlordecone concentrations. Postnatal exposure was determined through breast feeding and frequency of contaminated food consumption by the infants. RESULTS: Cord chlordecone concentrations in tertiles were associated with reduced novelty preference on the FTII in the highly exposed group (β=-0.19, p=0.02). Postnatal exposure through contaminated food consumption was marginally related to reduced novelty preference (β=-0.14, p=0.07), and longer processing speed (β=0.16, p=0.07). Detectable levels of chlordecone in cord blood were associated with higher risk of obtaining low scores on the fine motor development scale (OR=1.25, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that pre- and postnatal low chronic exposure to chlordecone is associated with negative effects on cognitive and motor development during infancy.
ISSN: 0013-9351

hal-00875939
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00875939
DOI : 10.1016/j.envres.2012.07.006
PUBMED : 22910562

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Background Chlordecone is a persistent organochlorine insecticide with well-defined estrogenic properties. It was intensively used in the French West Indies until 1993 to control the banana root borer. Because of the long-term contamination of soils and water, the population is currently exposed to chlordecone through food consumption. Chlordecone has been found in the blood of pregnant women and in cord blood. It has been shown to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical and exposure during pregnancy may affect fetal growth. Objectives The objective of our study was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to chlordecone and fetal growth based on the TIMOUN birth cohort conducted in Guadeloupe, with a focus on the potential modification of this relationship by maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG). Methods Chlordecone was determined in cord plasma at birth in 593 babies. Birth weight was the indicator of fetal growth. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG were determined. Adherence to GWG recommendations of the US Institute of Medicine based on maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was assessed. Birth weight was analyzed relative to cord blood chlordecone levels using linear and non-linear regression models. Results Overall chlordecone in cord blood was not associated with birth weight, but we found an interaction between chlordecone exposure with GWG and adherence to GWG recommendations. After stratification by GWG, we found a significant U-shaped association between birth weight and chlordecone exposure, within the upper quartiles of GWG or excessive GWG. Conclusion Chlordecone exposure may affect fetal growth, particularly when excessive GWG is present. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
Environmental Research

hal-01367154
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01367154
DOI : 10.1016/j.envres.2016.08.004
PUBMED : 27560981

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
It has been suggested that prenatal exposure to insecticides adversely affects fetal growth, but the overall results have been inconsistent, partly because of the different exposure sources and exposure assessments used. In the French PELAGIE (Perturbateurs Endocriniens: Étude Longitudinale sur les Anomalies de la Grossesse, l'Infertilité et l'Enfance) mother and child cohort (2002-2006), the authors investigated the association between fetal growth and insecticide exposure (n = 1,213) using an integrated Bayesian latent variable model to include multiple exposure sources: agricultural activities, nonorganic diet, household insecticide use on plants, and household insecticide use against insects. They used a questionnaire to collect information on household use and organic diet, and a national agricultural census provided data on agricultural activities in the women's municipalities of residence. A 0.10-cm decrease in head circumference at birth (95% credibility interval: -0.22, 0.01) was associated with fetal insecticide exposure from agricultural activities in the municipality of residence. Decreases in average birth weight (-27 g; 95% credibility interval: -59, 6) and head circumference (-0.12 cm; 95% credibility interval: -0.26, 0.01) were associated with household insecticide use to treat plants. The present results suggest an inverse association between fetal growth and prenatal insecticide exposure from nearby agricultural activity or household use. Bayesian modeling via latent variables is a natural framework for including multiple sources of exposure to environmental pollutants.
ISSN: 0002-9262

hal-00875979
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00875979
DOI : 10.1093/aje/kwr422
PUBMED : 22534205

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
AbstractBackground The intensive use of chlordecone (an organochlorine insecticide) in the French West Indies until 1993 resulted in a long-term soil and water contamination. Chlordecone has known hormonal properties and exposure through contaminated food during critical periods of development (gestation and early infancy) may affect growth. Objectives We aimed to assess the impact of prenatal and postnatal exposure to chlordecone on the growth of children from the TIMOUN mother–child cohort. Methods Chlordecone was determined in cord plasma at birth (N=222) and in breast milk samples (at 3 months). Dietary chlordecone intake was estimated at 7 and 18 months, with food-frequency questionnaires and food-specific contamination data. Anthropometric measurements were taken at the 3-, 7- and 18-month visits and measurements reported in the infants' health records were noted. Structured Jenss–Bayley growth models were fitted to individual height and weight growth trajectories. The impact of exposure on growth curve parameters was estimated directly with adjusted mixed non-linear models. Weight, height and body mass index (BMI), and instantaneous height and weight growth velocities at specific ages were also analyzed relative to exposure. Results Chlordecone in cord blood was associated with a higher BMI in boys at 3 months, due to greater weight and lower height, and in girls at 8 and 18 months, mostly due to lower height. Postnatal exposure was associated with lower height, weight and BMI at 3, 8 and 18 months, particularly in girls. Conclusion Chlordecone exposure may affect growth trajectories in children aged 0 to 18 months
ISSN: 0013-9351

hal-01169790
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01169790
DOI : 10.1016/j.envres.2015.06.023
PUBMED : 26133809

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Different household insecticide applications via two electric vaporizers emitting transfluthrin were realized in a full-scale experimental room under controlled air exchange rate conditions. On-line high-time resolved measurements of the gas-phase concentrations of the active substance during and immediately after the spreading periods were performed with a High Sensitivity Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometer (HS-PTR-MS). Experimental and modelled data from the ConsExpo 4.0 software were also compared to evaluate the sources of differences. Different application scenarios were also compared. Averaged inhaled concentrations over 1h, 1week, and 5months were estimated to be 8.3, 1.8, and 1.8μg.m(-3), respectively. Corresponding margins of exposures range from 1000 to 10,000, claiming for the absence of effect. Dermal and dust ingestion pathways, although roughly estimated, seems being non-negligible. This claims for a more in-depth integrated risk assessment.
ISSN: 0160-4120

hal-00875320
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00875320
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00875320/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00875320/file/Transfluthrin-indoor-accepted.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.envint.2013.07.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Pyrethroids are insecticides frequently used in agriculture and in the home; exposure occurs through dietary and non-dietary pathways, including indoor and outdoor environmental contamination. Our objective was to study the potential determinants of pyrethroid metabolite concentrations measured in children's urine samples and in the dust of their homes. Specifically, we measured urinary metabolites from morning spot samples of 245 six-year- old children living in Brittany (France) in 2009-2012 and from dust vacuumed from the floor of their homes. Mothers reported home insecticide use, dietary habits, sociodemographic data; residential and school proximity to agricultural crops was assessed with spatialized data. The metabolites cis-DBCA, trans-DCCA, cisDCCA, 3-PBA, and F-PBA were detected in 84, 95, 64, 63, and 16% of the urine samples, respectively. Permethrin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, and tetramethrin pyrethroids were detected in 100, 56, 9, 15, and 26% of the dust samples, respectively. Multiple regression analysis suggested diet plays a role in children's exposure, in particular, the food groups "pasta, rice or semolina" (for cis-DCCA and F-PBA), fruit (3-PBA), "breakfast cereals and whole grain bread" (cis-DBCA), and the global proportion of organic food in diet (for cis-DBCA, trans-DCCA). Children with a parent occupationally exposed to pesticides were about 3-times more likely to have higher urinary concentrations of 3-PBA (OR = 2.8, 95% CI [1.2; 6.5]). Dust content was correlated mainly with household insecticide use: higher mean concentrations of permethrin (beta = 0.8 [0.3; 1.3], in mu g/g) and an increased risk of a detectable level of cyfluthrin (OR = 4.7 [1.7; 12.9]) were observed in home dust, for indoor use of at least twice a year. Outdoor insecticide use at least once a year was associated with detection in dust of cypermethrin (OR = 3.0 [1.3; 6.7]) and tetramethrin (OR = 3.7 [1.6; 8.3]). Three positive and one negative correlations (out of 11) between urinary metabolite concentrations and home dust contents of their possible corresponding parent compounds were observed. The strength of this study lies in its concurrent use of biomarkers, environmental measurements, and potential sources of exposure. Its limitations include the use of a single urine sample and imprecise data about pyrethroid use in local agriculture.
ISSN: 0160-4120

hal-01560147
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01560147
DOI : 10.1016/j.envint.2017.04.007
PUBMED : 28453973

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
We assessed the occurrence of algae in five species of tank-bromeliads found in contrasting environmental sites in a Neotropical, primary rainforest around the Nouragues Research Station, French Guiana. The distributions of both algal abundance and biomass were examined based on physical parameters, the morphological characteristics of bromeliad species and with regard to the structure of other aquatic microbial communities held in the tanks. Algae were retrieved in all of the bromeliad species with mean densities ranging from ∼10(2) to 10(4) cells/mL. Their biomass was positively correlated to light exposure and bacterial biomass. Algae represented a tiny component of the detrital food web in shaded bromeliads but accounted for up to 30 percent of the living microbial carbon in the tanks of Catopsis berteroniana, located in a highly exposed area. Thus, while nutrient supplies are believed to originate from wind-borne particles and trapped insects (i.e., allochtonous organic matter), our results indicate that primary producers (i.e., autochtonous organic matter) are present in this insectivorous bromeliad. Using a 24-h incubation of size-fractionated and manipulated samples from this plant, we evaluated the impact of mosquito foraging on algae, other microorganisms and rotifers. The prey assemblages were greatly altered by the predation of mosquito larvae. Grazing losses indicated that the dominant algal taxon, Bumilleriopsis sp., like protozoa and rotifers, is a significant part of the diet of mosquito larvae. We conclude that algae are a relevant functional community of the aquatic food web in C. berteroniana and might form the basis of a complementary non-detrital food web.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-00819161
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819161
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819161/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819161/file/Brouard2011_AreAlgae.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0020129

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Chlordecone (Kepone) is an organochlorine insecticide that has been used as insecticide and fungicide. In the French West Indies, Guadeloupe and Martinique, it was intensively applied to banana fields from 1973 to 1993 to control root borers. This pesticide undergoes no significant biotic or abiotic degradation in the environment and is still present in soils where it was applied. It was only in 1999 that health and environmental authorities became aware of the extent of the chlordecone pollution of environmental media, including soils, waterways, and the food chain. Earlier observations and toxicological studies have demonstrated that chlordecone is a reproductive and developmental toxicant, neurotoxic and carcinogenic in rodents, and is an endocrine-disrupting chemical because of its estrogenic properties both in vitro and in vivo. Several surveys have confirmed that the French West Indian population continues to be exposed to this chemical though consumption of contaminated foodstuffs. Here, we report the findings of various epidemiological studies conducted in the French West Indies to assess the impact of environmental exposure to chlordecone on the health of the population.
ISSN: 0944-1344

hal-01150382
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01150382
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01150382/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01150382/file/Chlordecone%20exposure%20and%20adverse%20effects%20in%20French%20West.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s11356-015-4621-5

Éditeur(s) : Communication, ICES Conference and Meeting (CM), 2010, Nantes
Résumé : Chlordecone is a very persistent insecticide used in banana plantations of the French West Indies between 1972 and 1993. Chlordecone residues were found in inland water, in agricultural and freshwater products, and in marine organisms. This pollution has become of great concern in 2007. Therefore, a governmental action Plan was launched to better assess the pollution and to improve the consumer’s protection. Within this plan, 1048 samples from 69 different species of marine fishes and crustaceans were collected all around both the Guadeloupe and the Martinique Islands and analyzed. The results confirm the presence of chlordecone in marine organisms, with highly variable concentrations (from the detection limit to 1000 μg.kg-1). In 17.9 % of the samples, concentrations exceeded 20 μg.kg-1, the maximum acceptable level in fish according to the French regulation (Anon, 2008). Two main features of this contamination were characterized. 1) Because of the sedimentation of contaminated suspended soil particles, the sheltered bays are more exposed to chlordecone than the open coast where terrigenous flux are dispersed. 2) Species biology, particularly their lifestyle and diet, appear to influence contamination levels. Thus, the more contaminated species live in relation with sediment or are at high trophic level. These results have directly supported political decisions in order to prevent too high exposure of consumers to chlordecone. Fishing activities in sheltered bays have been forbidden for potentially highly contaminated species like benthic crustaceans and top predators. Further studies are under way to assess the importance of the trophic transport of chlordecone within the foodweb, and to evaluate the historical deposition of this insecticide in sediment and its further bioavailability.

Droits : 2010 ICES/CIEM ; Ifremer
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00014/12511/9361.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00014/12511/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Perinatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may affect thyroid hormones homeostasis and impair brain development. Chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide widely used in the French West Indies has known estrogenic and progestin properties, but no data is available, human or animal, on its action on thyroid hormone system. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of perinatal exposure to chlordecone on the thyroid hormone system of a sample of infants from the Timoun mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe and their further neurodevelopment. Chlordecone was measured in cord blood and breast milk samples. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) were determined in child blood at 3 months (n=111). Toddlers were further assessed at 18 months using an adapted version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Cord chlordecone was associated with an increase in TSH in boys, whereas postnatal exposure was associated with a decrease in FT3 overall, and in FT4 among girls. Higher TSH level at 3 months was positively associated with the ASQ score of fine motor development at 18 months among boys, but TSH did not modify the association between prenatal chlordecone exposure and poorer ASQ fine motor score. Perinatal exposure to chlordecone may affect TSH and thyroid hormone levels at 3 months, differently according to the sex of the infant. This disruption however did not appear to intervene in the pathway between prenatal chlordecone exposure and fine motor child development.
ISSN: 0013-9351

hal-01134317
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01134317
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01134317/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01134317/file/Perinatal%20exposure%20to%20chlordecone_accepted.pdf
PUBMED : 25747818

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Society of Clinical Oncology
Résumé : International audience
PURPOSE: Determining whether environmental estrogens are associated with the risk of prostate cancer may have important implications for our general understanding of this disease. The estrogenic insecticide chlordecone was used extensively in the French West Indies, contaminating the population for more than 30 years. We analyzed the relationship between exposure to chlordecone and the risk of prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated 623 men with prostate cancer and 671 controls. Exposure was analyzed according to case-control status, using either current plasma concentration or a cumulative exposure index based on years of exposure. We genotyped two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs3829125 and rs17134592) in the gene encoding chlordecone reductase. RESULTS: We found a significant increase in the risk of prostate cancer with increasing plasma chlordecone concentration (odds ratio [OR], 1.77; 95% CI, 1.21 to 2.58 for the highest tertile of values above the limit of detection [LD]; P trend = .002) and for cumulative exposure index (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.04 to 2.88 for the highest quartile; P trend = .004). Stronger associations were observed among those with a positive family history of prostate cancer and among those who had lived in a Western country. The rs3829125 and rs17134592 allele variants were in complete linkage disequilibrium and were found at low frequency (0.04). Among subjects with plasma chlordecone concentrations above the LD, carriers of the allele variants had a higher risk of prostate cancer (OR, 5.23; 95% CI, 0.82 to 33.32). CONCLUSION: These findings support the hypothesis that exposure to environmental estrogens increases the risk of prostate cancer.
ISSN: 0732-183X

inserm-00518099
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00518099
DOI : 10.1200/JCO.2009.27.2153
PUBMED : 20566993

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
During their immature life stages, malaria mosquitoes are exposed to a wide array of microbes and contaminants from the aquatic habitats. Although prior studies have suggested that environmental exposure shapes the microbial community structure in the adult mosquito, most reports have focused on laboratory-based experiments and on a single mosquito epithelium, the gut. In this study, we investigated the influence of the breeding site on the development of the Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles gambiae microbiota in natural conditions. We characterized bacterial communities from aquatic habitats, at surface microlayer and subsurface water levels, to freshly emerge adult mosquitoes using multiplexed 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and we separately analyzed the microbiota associated with the different epithelia of adult individual, midguts, ovaries and salivary glands. We found that the distribution of bacterial communities in the aquatic habitats differed according to the depth of water collections. Inter-individual variation of bacterial composition was large in larvae guts but adult mosquitoes from a same breeding site shared quite similar microbiota. Although some differences in bacterial abundances were highlighted between the different epithelia of freshly emerged An. coluzzii and An. gambiae, an intriguing feature from our study is the particular similarity of the overall bacterial communities. Our results call for further investigations on the bacterial population dynamics in the different tissues to determine the distinctive characteristics of each microbiota during the mosquito lifespan and to identify specific interactions between certain key phyla or species and the insect life history traits.
ISSN: 1567-1348

hal-01546167
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01546167
DOI : 10.1016/j.meegid.2014.09.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
To study the associations between occupation, industry and prostate cancer risk in Guadeloupe, a high incidence area. Incident cases of prostate cancer (707 cases) and 722 population controls were included. Information on lifetime occupational history and other potential risk factors was collected by interview. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds-ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). A significantly decreased risk was observed in farmers (OR=0.5; CI 0.4-0.7), whereas marginally elevated ORs were found for farm workers, especially in sugarcane and banana farming. Banana plantation workers had been exposed to chlordecone, an estrogenic insecticide previously found to be associated with prostate cancer risk in this population. Significantly increased risks of prostate cancer were found in stock clerks (OR=2.7; CI 1.0-7.2), fishermen (OR=2.0; CI 1.0-4.0), mail distribution clerks (OR=7.7; CI 1.7-34.4) and electricians employed for more than 20 years (OR=4.0; CI 1.0-15.8), as well as in public administration (OR=1.8; CI 1.2-2.9), retail trade (OR=2.6; CI 1.1-6.0) and manufacture of food products (OR=2.0; CI 1.1-3.9), particularly sugar (OR=13.2; IC 1.6-108). Non-significantly elevated ORs were also seen for construction workers and transport equipment operators. Although the overall findings suggest that occupational factors have only a limited role in prostate cancer aetiology, elevated risks of prostate cancer were found in several occupations or industries. Exposure to pesticides, solvents, traffic-related air pollution, low physical activity, whole-body vibration may explain some of these increased risks.
Challenges for Occupational Epidemiology in the 21st Century EPICOH 2014
Chicago, United States

hal-01118558
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01118558
DOI : 10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.312
PUBMED : 25018167

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Pyrethroid insecticides are widely used in agriculture and in homes. Despite the neurotoxicity of these insecticides at high doses, few studies have examined whether lower-level exposures could adversely affect children's neurodevelopment. The PELAGIE cohort included 3421 pregnant women from Brittany, France between 2002 and 2006. When their children reached their sixth birthday, 428 mothers from the cohort were randomly selected, successfully contacted and found eligible. A total of 287 (67%) mothers agreed to participate with their children in the neuropsychological follow-up. Two cognitive domains were assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: verbal comprehension and working memory. Five pyrethroid and two organophosphate insecticide metabolites were measured in maternal and child first-void urine samples collected between 6 and 19 gestational weeks and at 6 years of age, respectively. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations between cognitive scores and urinary pyrethroid metabolite concentrations, adjusting for organophosphate metabolite concentrations and potential confounders. Maternal prenatal pyrethroid metabolite concentrations were not consistently associated with any children's cognitive scores. By contrast, childhood 3-PBA and cis-DBCA concentrations were both negatively associated with verbal comprehension scores (P-trend = 0.04 and P-trend < 0.01, respectively) and with working memory scores (P-trend = 0.05 and P-trend < 0.01, respectively). No associations were observed for the three other childhood pyrethroid metabolite concentrations (4-F-3-PBA, cis-DCCA, and trans-DCCA). Low-level childhood exposures to deltamethrin (as cis-DBCA is its principal and selective metabolite), in particular, and to pyrethroid insecticides, in general (as reflected in levels of the 3-PBA metabolite) may negatively affect neurocognitive development by 6 years of age. Whatever their etiology, these cognitive deficits may be of importance educationally, because cognitive impairments in children interfere with learning and social development. Potential causes that can be prevented are of paramount public health importance
ISSN: 0160-4120

hal-01162374
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162374
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162374/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162374/file/Pyrethroid%20insecticide%20exposure.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.envint.2015.05.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Determining the sources of variation in floral morphology is crucial to understanding the mechanisms underlying Angiosperm evolution. The selection of floral and reproductive traits is influenced by the plant's abiotic environment, florivores and pollinators. However, evidence that variations in floral traits result from mutualistic interactions with insects other than pollinators is lacking in the published literature and has rarely been investigated. We aimed to determine whether the association with either Camponotus femoratus or Pachycondyla goeldii (both involved in seed dispersal and plant protection) mediates the reproductive traits and allocation of Aechmea mertensii, an obligatory ant-garden tank-bromeliad, differently. METHODS: Floral and reproductive traits were compared between the two A. mertensii ant-gardens. The nitrogen flux from the ants to the bromeliads was investigated through experimental enrichments with stable isotopes ((15)N). KEY RESULTS: Camponotus femoratus-associated bromeliads produced inflorescences up to four times longer than did P. goeldii-associated bromeliads. Also, the numbers of flowers and fruits were close to four times higher, and the number of seeds and their mass per fruit were close to 1*5 times higher in C. femoratus than in P. goeldii-associated bromeliads. Furthermore, the (15)N-enrichment experiment showed that C. femoratus-associated bromeliads received more nitrogen from ants than did P. goeldii-associated bromeliads, with subsequent positive repercussions on floral development. Greater benefits were conferred to A. mertensii by the association with C. femoratus compared with P. goeldii ants. CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time that mutualistic associations with ants can result in an enhanced reproductive allocation for the bromeliad A. mertensii. Nevertheless, the strength and direction of the selection of floral and fruit traits change based on the ant species and were not related to light exposure. The different activities and ecological preferences of the ants may play a contrasting role in shaping plant evolution and speciation.
ISSN: 0305-7364

hal-00819112
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00819112
DOI : 10.1093/aob/mcr253
PUBMED : 21984729