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International audience; The present study, conducted in the Galion Bay in Martinique, aims to highlight the temporal and seasonal variations of chlordecone contamination (an organochlorine pollutant) in the ambient environment (seawater) but also in the marine organisms in three main coastal marine habitats (mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs). To this end, two methodologies were used to measure and compare the chemical contamination of seawater during 13 months (spot samplings and POCIS technique). In parallel, concentrations of chlordecone and isotopic ratios (C and N) were carried out on marine organisms, collected during two contrasting climatic periods (dry and rainy), to evidence seasonal variations. The results showed that the contamination of seawater displayed significant variations over time and depended on environmental factors such as water flows, which imply dilution and dispersion phenomena. Concerning the marine organisms, the level of contamination varied considerably between the two seasons in seagrass beds with higher levels of contamination during the rainy season. Reef organisms were more moderately affected by this pollution, while mangrove organisms Environnemental Science and Pollution Research 2022 2 showed a high level of chlordecone whatever the season. Finally, isotope analyses highlighted that bioamplification along marine food-webs occurs at each season and each station.

Massive Sargassum sp. beachings have been occurring on Caribbean shores since 2011. The sargassum involved in such events are S. fluitans and S. natans, two drifting species whose proliferation has been observed in the southern North Atlantic Ocean. Both for reasons of environmental and sanitary assessment and repurposing, Sargassum sp. that is ashore piled up on beaches and decaying must be studied. Studies are required because of the concerning content of pelagic arsenic reported in the literature. They are also needed owing to Sargassum sp. contamination subsequent to historical pollution in the French West Indies by chlordecone, an insecticide used against the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus. The present study aims to describe the contamination and decontamination toxicokinetics of arsenic and chlordecone for Sargassum sp. stranding on shores and shallows in the Caribbean, in order to support the decision-making of the authorities involved. In situ and in mesocosm experiments performed in the present study show that Sargassum sp. contamination by chlordecone is mainly done after 2 h of exposition and reaches equilibrium after a day of exposure in polluted water, but BCF study suggests that the phenomenon is not actively supported (passive soption only). Arsenic transudation is intense in the case of immerged algae both. Half of the arsenic content is transudated after 13 h at sea and will transudate until vestigial arsenic concentration. Sargassum sp. contamination by arsenic, due to phytoaccumulation offshore, is broadly homogeneous before decay, and then leaks lead rapidly to a decrease in concentration in Sargassum sp. necromass, questioning the subsequent contamination of the coastal environment.

International audience; In Guadeloupe, the use between 1972 and 1993 of chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide, has permanently contaminated the island’s soil, thus contaminating the food chain at its very beginning. There is today a strong societal requirement for an improved mapping of the contaminated zones. Given the extent of the areas to be covered, carrying out soil tests on each plot of the territory would be a long and expensive process. In this article, we explore a method of demarcating polluted areas. The approach adopted consists in carrying out, using surface water analyses, a hydrological delimitation that makes it possible to distinguish contaminated watersheds from uncontaminated ones. The selection of sampling points was based on the spatial analysis of the actual and potential contamination data existing at the beginning of the study. The approach was validated by soil analyses, after having compared the contamination data of the watersheds with the soil contamination data of the plots within them. The study thus made it possible to highlight new contaminated areas and also those at risk of contamination and to identify the plots to be targeted as a priority during future analysis campaigns by State services.

International audience

Agricultural activities in the Caribbean, especially banana cropping, are known for their significant use of pesticides. In particular is chlordecone, which was used between 1972 and 1993 against the banana root borer, Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar, 1824). In this context, "Kannari study: Health, Nutrition and Exposition to Chlordecone in French West Indies" was put in place in 2013-2014 to supplement knowledge about the exposure of the population to chlordecone and other organochlorine pollutants. The data collected comprised a dietary intake description, data from biological samples (blood sample), socioeconomic and demographic information, and data from complementary specific items relative to life habits. A total of 742 subjects (292 in Guadeloupe and 450 in Martinique) were included in the impregnation component of the Kannari study. In this study, chlordecone and organochlorine compounds were detected in almost all participants. This result suggests that exposure to chlordecone is widespread, but also to other organochlorine pesticides. Chlordecone impregnation of the majority of the population appears to have decreased between 2003 and 2013, but various subgroups of the population remain highly exposed. The levels of impregnation are determined by dietary exposure and environmental contamination. However, total consumption of fresh fish (all species combined), especially from informal channels, is the main source of exposure to chlordecone. The serum PCB concentrations measured in the French Caribbean Islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique are lower than those observed in metropolitan France in 2007 (French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS)). In contrast, the French West Indies population seems more exposed to lindane than the French mainland population, and this exposure also seems more recent.

Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide that was extensively used to control the banana root borer population in the French West Indies until 1993. Its persistence in soil has led to widespread pollution of the environment, and human beings, including pregnant women, are still exposed to this chemical. High levels of exposure to chlordecone during gestation have been shown to cause congenital anomalies, including undescended testes in rodents. We assessed the associations between chlordecone concentrations in maternal and cord plasma and the risk of congenital anomalies in the Timoun Mother-Child Cohort Study (2004-2007) that included 1068 pregnant women in Guadeloupe. Odds ratios were estimated using unconditional logistic regression analysis, controlling for confounding factors. The median plasma concentrations in maternal and cord plasma were 0.39 μg/L and 0.20 μg/L, respectively. Thirty-six children were diagnosed with malformations according to the European Registration of Congenital Anomalies guidelines and 25 with undescended testes. There was no association between maternal or cord plasma concentration of chlordecone and the risk of overall malformations nor undescended testes. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to the currently observed environmental levels of chlordecone in French West Indies does not increase the risk of birth defects.

Chlordecone (CLD), also named Kepone, is a synthetic organochlorine pesticide. As one of the common persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in nature, CLD has a profound impact on the environment and human health. The study aims to investigate the reproductive toxicity effects of CLD on male Caenorhabditis elegans and on progeny. L1-stage male nematodes were exposed to the control group (M9 solution) and four dose groups (0.02, 0.2, 2, and 20 μg/L). After exposure for 48 h, the male nematodes were picked to mating experiment and progeny experiment that the number of progeny and the time of observation in male parent and in F1 generation were counted; the number of germ cells and the number of sperm in the meiotic division of male nematodes were counted by staining with dimercaptophenyl hydrazine (DAPI), and the nematode gland area was observed under the bright field of the microscope. In male nematodes, the results showed that a number of progeny were 351.20 ± 31.40, 321.60 ± 24.70, 307.30 ± 19.30, 240.10 ± 27.60, and 227.90 ± 22.70 (P

Chlordecone is an organochlorine insecticide that was intensively used in the French West Indies to control the black weevil Cosmopolites sordidus in bananas. Its usage, however, resulted in the widespread pollution of the environment with heavy sanitary and social consequences, leading to population exposure mainly through food. Time-consuming and costly programs have been used to tackle this problem, and this study proposes to use the emerging sewage epidemiology approach to evaluate the current situation and the effect of such programs. The results determine the maximal value of chlordecone consumption, and considering the detection limit of the analytical protocol, the wastewater was found to have undetectable amounts of chlordecone. This value confirms the efficiency of the population protection strategy provided by French sanitary and environmental authorities. It also bolsters the usage of sewage epidemiology in pesticide assessment and relativizes the chlordecone risk compared to other chemicals of lesser concern.

International audience; Chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide, pollutes soils and contaminates crops and water resources and is biomagnified by food chains. As chlordecone is partly trapped in the soil, one possible alternative to decontamination may be to increase its containment in the soil, thereby reducing its diffusion into the environment. Containing the pesticide in the soil could be achieved by adding compost because the pollutant has an affinity for organic matter. We hypothesized that adding compost would also change soil porosity, as well as transport and containment of the pesticide. We measured the pore features and studied the nanoscale structure to assess the effect of adding compost on soil microstructure. We simulated changes in the transport properties (hydraulic conductivity and diffusion) associated with changes in porosity. During compost incubation, the clay microstructure collapsed due to capillary stresses. Simulated data showed that the hydraulic conductivity and diffusion coefficient were reduced by 95 and 70 % in the clay microstructure, respectively. Reduced transport properties affected pesticide mobility and thus helped reduce its transfer from the soil to water and to the crop. We propose that the containment effect is due not only to the high affinity of chlordecone for soil organic matter but also to a trapping mechanism in the soil porosity.

Chlordecone is an organochlorine insecticide that has been widely used to control banana weevil in the French West Indies. As a result of this intense use, up to 20,000 ha are contaminated by this insecticide in the French West Indies, and this causes environmental damage and health problems. A scenario of exposure was drawn by French authorities, based on land usage records. Many efforts have been made to monitor the occurrence of chlordecone and its main metabolites using different analytical methods, including GC, GC/MS, LC/MS, and NIRS. Although these different methods allow for the detection and quantification of chlordecone from soils, none of them estimate the bottleneck caused by extraction of this organochlorine from soils with high adsorption ability. In this study, we used C-13(10)-chlordecone as a tracer to estimate chlordecone extraction yield and to quantify chlordecone in soil extracts based on the C-13/C-12 isotope dilution. We report the optimization of C-13(10)-chlordecone extraction from an Andosol. The method was found to be linear from 0.118 to 43 mg kg(-1) in the Andosol, with an instrumental detection limit estimated at 8.84 mu g kg(-1). This method showed that chlordecone ranged from 35.4 down to 0.18 mg kg(-1) in Andosol, Nitisol, Ferralsol, and Fluvisol soil types. Traces of the metabolite beta-monohydrochlordecone were detected in the Andosol, Nitisol, and Ferralsol soil samples. This last result indicates that this method could be useful to monitor the fate of chlordecone in soils of the French West Indies.