| Biomarkers in Maternal and Newborn Blood Indicate Heightened Fetal Susceptibility to Procarcinogenic DNA Damage Frederica P. Perera,1 Deliang Tang,1 Yi-Hsuan Tu,1 Linda Ali Cruz,1 Mejico Borjas,1 Tom Bernert,2 and Robin M. Whyatt1 1Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, New York, New York, USA; 2Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) are widespread air contaminants released by transportation vehicles, power generation, and other combustion sources. Experimental evidence indicates that the developing fetus is more susceptible than the adult to carcinogenic effects of PAHs, although laboratory studies in rodents suggest that the dose to fetal tissues is an order of magnitude lower than that to maternal tissues. To assess fetal versus adult susceptibility to PAHs and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) , we compared carcinogen-DNA adducts (a biomarker associated with increased cancer risk) and cotinine (a biomarker of tobacco smoke exposure) in paired blood samples collected from mothers and newborns in New York City. We enrolled 265 nonsmoker African-American and Latina mother-newborn pairs in New York City between 1997 and 2001 (estimated average ambient air BaP concentrations < 0.5 ng/m3) . Despite the estimated 10-fold lower fetal dose, mean levels of BaP-DNA adducts as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence were comparable in paired New York City newborn and maternal samples (0.24 adducts per 108 nucleotides, 45% of newborns with detectable adducts vs. 0.22 per 108 nucleotides, 41% of mothers with detectable adducts) . However, by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the levels in newborns were higher (p = 0.02) . Mean cotinine was higher in newborns than in mothers (1.7 ng/mL, 47% detectable vs. 1.28 ng/mL, 44% detectable) . Consistent with our prior study in a Caucasian Polish population, these results indicate increased susceptibility of the fetus to DNA damage and reduced ability to clear ETS constituents. The findings have implications for risk assessment, given the need to protect children as a sensitive subset of the population. Key words: cancer, DNA adducts, fetus, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, susceptibility. Environ Health Perspect 112:1133-1136 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6833 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 22 March 2004]
Address correspondence to F.P. Perera, Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, 60 Haven Ave., B-109, New York, NY 10032 USA. Telephone: (212) 304-7280. Fax: (212) 544-1943. E-mail: fpp1@columbia.edu We acknowledge the assistance of J. Zhou for BaP-DNA adduct analysis, and the research staff, S.A. Lederman, A. Reyes, D. Diaz, J. Dietrich, J. Ramirez, Y. Cosme, and D. Holmes. This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (5 P01 ES09600 and 5 RO1 ES08977) , the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA R827027) , the U.S. Department of Energy (DE FG02-93R61719) , Irving General Clinical Research Center (RR00645) , Bauman Family Foundation, Gladys and Roland Harriman Foundation, New York Community Trust, Educational Foundation of America, and the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 3 November 2003 ; accepted 22 March 2004.
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