Evidence for persistent organochlorine pollutants in the human adrenal cortex

Environmental pollutants may act as endocrine disruptors in animals. Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) andpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) enter the food chain and may accumulate in the fatty animal tissues, including adrenals. Toour knowledge, no previous study has investigated their presence in the human normal adrenal (NA) cortex and aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA). Surgical fragments of APA from 11 patients and NA from 8 kidney donors were analyzed for 16 PCBscongeners and 10 OCPs. A Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion (MSPD) method for simultaneous determination of the target com-pounds in cortex homogenates was developed. A gas-chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (Triple QuadGC-MS) system was used for the analysis. Data were analyzed using Random Forest and Wilcoxon's rank-sum test. OCPs andPCBs were found in specimens from both types. A subset of pollutants characterized APA more than NA. Higher concentrations(?gg?1) in APA were observed for ? -, ?-, and ?- Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (1.48 ± 3.32 vs. 0.17 ± 0.19, P = 0.028; 2.81 ± 2.10 vs.0.96 ± 0.98, P = 0.011; 2.16 ± 4.85 vs. 0.17 ± 0.26, P = 0.004, respectively), as well as for Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and for PCBs 28,52 and 101 (3.41 ± 3.11 vs. 0.97 ± 1.06, P = 0.021; 2.34 ± 4.68 vs. 0.25 ± 0.22, P = 0.039; 0.58 ± 1.19 vs. 0.06 ± 0.02, P = 0.002; 0.26 ±0.43 vs. 0.05 ± 0.00, P = 0.001, respectively). Environmental organochlorine pollutants were shown to be present in the humannormal and abnormal adrenal cortex, deserving future investigation on their possible role as adrenal endocrine disruptors inhuman disease.