Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and synthetic musks in umbilical cord Serum, maternal serum, and breast milk from Seoul, South Korea

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 80; no. 2; pp. 116 - 122
• Main Authors: Kang, Chang Seong, Lee, Jong-Hyeon, Kim, Seung-Kyu, Lee, Kyu-Tae, Lee, Jung Suk, Park, Pan Soo, Yun, Se Hun, Kannan, Kurunthachalam, Yoo, Yung Wook, Ha, Jeong Yi, Lee, Seung Wook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Applied sciences; Biological; Biological and medical sciences; Breast; Breast milk; Daily intake; Domestic and cosmetic products toxicology; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Environmental Pollutants - metabolism; Ethers; Exact sciences and technology; Female; Fetal Blood - metabolism; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers - blood; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers - metabolism; Hazardous quotient; Humans; Infants; Maternal Exposure; Matrices; Medical sciences; Milk; Milk, Human - metabolism; Musk; Parity; Perfume - metabolism; Pollution; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; Polycyclic musks; Republic of Korea; Serum; Serums; Toxicology; Asia; South Korea; Korea; Republic of Korea; Korea, Rep., Seoul; Korea, Rep; Hazardous quotient; Serum; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; Polycyclic musks; Breast milk; Daily intake; Human; Biological fluid; Ether; Musk; Toxicity; Flame retardant; Low volatile compound; Epidemiology; Persistent organic pollutant; Bromine Organic compounds; Umbilical cord; Daily dose; Woman; Public health; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.04.009

Fetal and maternal exposure levels of two emerging pollutants, polybrominated diephenyl ethers (PBDEs) and synthetic musks, were measured in Korean general population to assess prenatal and postnatal exposures in infants. For this purpose, paired samples of breast milk, maternal and cord blood were collected from 20 Korean women in 2007. In comparison to data from other countries and previous data from Korea, relatively higher and gradually increasing concentrations for PBDEs were found in Korean breast milk (<LOQ to 590 ng g −1 lipid wt; median = 90 ng g −1). Differences in PBDEs and musk concentrations were found among age groups and parity levels. PBDEs concentrations in breast milk were lower in the younger mothers and/or the mothers with multiple parities, while these trends were not found for musks. Compared with PBDEs, concentrations of musks were significantly lower in breast milk than in serum and a little correlation in concentrations among the three human biological matrices were observed. The differences in the profiles of musks relative to PBDEs were due to different clearance rates between these two compounds. The average hazard quotients (HQs) for daily intake of PBDEs by infants via lactation were 0.62, 0.42, and 0.19 for BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-153, respectively.