Chlorinated hydrocarbon residues in Baluchistan: concentrations in human blood and fat

ABSTRACT

As a consequence of industrialization, plant- and food protection an increasing number of chemicals has been developed and applied during the last 50 years. One group of chemicals produced as insecticides are the chlorinated hydrocarbon-derivates [the most well known is DDT]. As such substances are exported from developed [where their use is widely prohibited] to-or produced in-developing countries [where low standards of education in rural population increase the risks of unprotected exposition it seemed worth while to look at their residues in human organism there. We analysed fat and blood of 25 probands from Quetta/Pakistan who underwent surgical operations and found for chemicals of the DDE- and HCH-group much higher levels than those reported from W-Germany. An interesting point is that HCB could not be detected in any of the samples. This is contradictory to common assumption HCB would be spread worldwide