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Organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites in human breast milk from Shanghai, China

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Abstract

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are persistent organic pollutants that could cause deleterious effects on human health. Breast milk represents a noninvasive specimen source to assess maternal and infant exposure to OCPs. This study recruited 142 pregnant mothers in 2011–2012 in Shanghai, China, and their breast milk samples were collected during lactation and analyzed for 27 OCP compounds. Detection rates were in a range of 65.5 to 100 %. In particular, metabolites of 2,2-bis(chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) such as 2-chloro-1,1-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDMU), 2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethanol (DDOH), bis(4-chlorophenyl)ketone (DBP), and 4,4′-dichlorodiphenylmethane (DDM) were detected in most milk samples. DDTs, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) were dominant OCPs with mean levels of 316, 49.8, and 41.5 ng/g lipid content, respectively, whereas levels of methoxychlor, ∑Drins, ∑Heptachlor, ∑Chlordane, and ∑Endosulfan were fairly low (0.87–5.6 ng/g lipid content). Milk concentrations of OCPs were weakly correlated with maternal age, body weight, and body mass indexes (BMIs). ∑OCPs in this study were much lower than those in human breast milk samples collected in 2002 and 2007. Consumption of higher amounts of fish was associated with higher milk levels of OCPs. Specific OCP patterns in breast milk samples from migrant mothers in Shanghai reflected features of OCP production, use, and exposure in their home provinces. The probabilistic exposure assessment model reveals that Shanghai infants were exposed to low levels of OCPs through breast milk consumption. However, infants as the vulnerable group might be subject to the potential additive and/or synergistic health effects from complex OCP exposure.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Special Research Fund for Non-Profit Sector (Health) (No. 200902009, Health Administration of China) and Specific Research Project of Shanghai Municipality for public health. We thank the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department of Pujiang Hospital, Shanghai for sampling breast milk and questionnaire survey as well as the mothers who collaborated with the study and donated breast milk samples. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect and are not subject to the official and government policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health/MOE Key Lab for Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Dasheng Lu & Zhijun Zhou

  2. Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1380 Zhongshan West Road, Shanghai, 200336, China

    Dasheng Lu, Yuanjie Lin, Chao Feng, Qian Xu, Xiaodong Jia & Guoquan Wang

  3. California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, 94804, USA

    Dongli Wang

  4. Xuhui District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Rong Ni

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  1. Dasheng Lu
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Correspondence to Guoquan Wang or Zhijun Zhou.

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Responsible editor: Ester Heath

Dasheng Lu and Dongli Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Lu, D., Wang, D., Ni, R. et al. Organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites in human breast milk from Shanghai, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 9293–9306 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4072-z

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