Bull. Environ. Contain. Toxicol. (1987) 39:506-510 9 1987 Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Environmental Contamination ~and Toxicology Organochlorine Pesticide Contaminants in Human Milk from Different Regions of Turkey Ali Esat Karakaya,1 Sema Burgaz,1 and Ilker Kanzik 2 1Department of Toxicology, and 2Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, 06330Ankara, Turkey The levels of organochlorine (OC) pesticides and their metabolites in human milk have been reported in studies for various countries during recent years (Collins et al. 1983, Noren 1983, S]orach and Vaz 1983, Mes et al. 1984). Determination of OC pesticide conta- minants, mainly B-BHC, pp'DDE, pp'DDT and PCBs, in human milk provides a measure of exposure to these substances (Slorach and Vaz 1983)o Usage of OC pesticides started in Turkey in 1945. Beginning from 1979, restrictions were imposed on these pesticides, and since 1983 usage have been severely restricted. The amount of OC pestici- des used in Turkey between 1976 and 1983 were reported as 2219, 2947, 2336, 764, 744, 701, 840 and 487 tons, respectively~ Although the official figures for 1984 and 1985 are yet unavailable, it is estimated that total usage was about a hundred tons per year. In this study we have attempted to determine the amount of OC pesticides, especially DDT and its metabolites and BHC isomers, in human milk samples obtained from regions having different environmental characters in Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS Samples of 163 human milk were collected from donors living in three different regions of Turkey for at least 5 years. Milk samples were collected from one of the breasts, at the end of the feeding, and between the 5th and 40th days of postpartum. The mean age of the donors was 26.5. Nearly all the donors except sixteen were nonsmokers. No data on the dieatary habits of the donors was available. The regions were selected on basis of differences in their environmental characters: Adana-Gukurova region (An agricultural district, it is estimated that about 70 % of all OC pesticides used in Turkey were consumed Send reprint requests to Dr. Ali Esat Karakaya at the above address~ 506