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SAMPLE ABSTRACT:
Author Information:
Authors: Marcello Sala, M. Miceli, P. Rombolà, F. Scolamacchia, A. Ubaldi and A. Battisti (list any institutional affiliations here)
Title:
High‐Level Beta‐Hexachlorocyclohexane Contamination in Dairy Farms—Sacco River Valley, Latium, Italy, 2005
Abstract Text:
Background: In March 2005, the Italian National Monitoring System on Chemical Residuals in Food of Animal Origin detected levels of the pesticide beta‐hexachlorocyclohexane (ß‐HCH) in bulk‐milk from a dairy farm in the Sacco River valley that were 30 times higher than the legal limit of 3ppb. B‐HCH, a lindane isomer and possible human carcinogen, was subsequently found in milk from several neighboring farms. A study was therefore undertaken to evaluate the extent and risk factors for contamination.
Methods: All dairy cattle farms in the valley were enrolled in a retrospective cohort study and their bulk milk analyzed for ß‐HCH. A questionnaire was administered to farmers to evaluate possible exposure factors. Low‐level contamination was defined as ß‐HCH levels in bulk‐milk between 0‐1.9ppb and high‐level as >2ppb.
Results: Of 244 farms tested, 34 (13,9%) had high‐level contamination. Feeding animals on fodder cultivated in soils watered with and/or flooded by river water was observed in 33/34 (97.0%) of high‐level farms and in 23/210 (10.9%) of those with low contamination (relative risk =110.8; 95%confidence interval 15.5‐792); the risk remained essentially unaltered after controlling for several potentially confounding variables. Subsequent investigation by local environmental authorities revealed that the source of contamination was an abandoned industrial site near the riverbank that had produced lindane for decades; high ß‐HCH levels were demonstrated in water sediments, soil, and fodder from the area.
Conclusions: Cattle fodder cultivated near a contaminated river was the main risk factor for ß‐HCH contaminated milk. On the basis of the epidemiologic evidence and environmental testing, watering local fields with river water and production of fodder in farms with contaminated soil was banned, and all animals from positive farms were culled.
Keywords: beta‐hexachlorocyclohexane, organochlorines, milk, cattle, cohort study