Biomonitoring of Organochlorine Pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Paired Placental Tissue and Umbilical Cord Blood in IUGR and Control Pregnancies

Persistent organic pollutants, such as organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), can persist in the human body and reach the fetus via transplacental transfer. In this exploratory pilot case-control biomonitoring study, we measured selected OCPs and PCBs in paired placental tissue and umbilical cord blood obtained at delivery from 22 singleton pregnancies in Kütahya, Türkiye, which included 12 intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) cases and 10 controls. Fifteen target analytes were quantified by GC-ECD following solid-phase extraction using Oasis HLB cartridges. Most measurements fell below the limit of quantification (LOQ), so detectability (≥LOQ vs.