The human body burden of polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in residents’ human milk from Guangdong Province, China

• Published in: Toxicology research (Cambridge) Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 552 - 559
• Main Authors: Huang, Rui, Wang, Ping, Zhang, Jianqing, Chen, Shaowei, Zhu, Pan, Huo, Weilun, Jiang, Yousheng, Chen, Zihui, Peng, Jiewen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 01.07.2019
• Subjects: Body burden; Breast milk; Chemistry; Dioxins; Equivalence; Furans; Gas chromatography; High resolution; Human body; Infants; Lipids; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Mathematical analysis; Milk; PCB; Pesticides; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins; Toxicity; China; Guangdong China
• ISSN: 2045-452X; 2045-4538
• DOI: 10.1039/C8TX00337H

Human milk samples were collected from 179 mothers in 2017 and 2018 in six counties of Guangdong province, China. Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) were determined to evaluate the human body burden of dioxin-like compounds on the general population of South China. Samples were analyzed using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry in six pools, according to the subjects’ resident county. The mean ∑PCDD/Fs and ∑DL-PCBs concentrations in human milk samples were 323.10 pg g −1 lipid and 2166.58 pg g −1 lipid, respectively, and the corresponding WHO toxicity equivalent (TEQ) values calculated with Toxic Equivalent Factors (TEFs) established by the WHO in 2005 (TEF WHO 2005 ) were 6.96 and 2.13 pg g −1 lipid. The concentrations of samples collected in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, were higher than those taken in the other five investigation regions. The levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in human milk and the estimated daily intake doses of breast-fed infants were still high when compared with some non-exposure areas in mainland China. TEQ levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in the present study have been compared to data obtained from a reported national study conducted in 2011. The mean TEQ (calculated with TEF WHO 2005 ) of ∑(DL-PCBs + PCDD/Fs) (8.4–9.0 pg g −1 lipid in 2011 vs. 9.09 pg g −1 lipid in 2018) seemed to be relatively stable during the period 2011–2018. These findings and continuing the surveillance of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in human milk will be helpful in furthering our understanding of human exposure to dioxin-like compounds in the general population.