Determinants of p,p '-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDE) concentration in adipose tissue in women from five European cities

To identify the determinants of p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (p,p'-D DE) in adipose tissue in subjects who participated in a cross-sectional stu dy, we analyzed fatty acids, antioxidants, and p,p'-DDE in aspirates of adi pose tissue of 328 postmenopausal women from 5 European countries. The over all mean of p,p'-DDE concentration was 1.66 mu g/g of fatty acids (95% conf idence interval = 1.46, 1.88). In a multiple-regression analysis, the main predictors of log(10)(p,p'-DDE) were center of recruitment (p <.0001), adip ose arachidic acid (p =.001), and adipose retinol (p =.04). These factors e xplained 14.9% of the overall variability of log(10)(p,p'-DDE), In our subj ects, adipose tissue p,p'-DDE concentrations were only weakly related with biomarkers reflecting intake of fish and other foods. This result is consis tent with the notion that p,p'-DDE exists in different foods and, given the widespread contamination of the food chain, is relatively evenly distribut ed among foods.