Birth weight and sex of children and the correlation to the body burden of PCDDs/PCDFs and PCBs of the mother.

Abstract

Polyhlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyis (PCBs) were analyzed in 167 random human milk samples from urban and rral areas in Finland. Dietary habits and background information on each mother and child were gathered by questionnaire. Body mass indexes (BMI) before pregnancy and delivery in the mral area were 5-10% higher than in the urban area, but fat content of mother's milk was about 10% higher in the urban area. The mean weights of children (t standard deviation) were similar in the rual and urban areas among prinmiparae, 3,500 * 597 g and 3,505 * 454 g,.respectively, although dioxin international toxic equivalents (I-TEQs) were significantly higher in the urban area. The mother's level of education did not affect the weight of the child, but concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs 3,4,7, dibenzofuran,1,2,3,7, PCB-TEQs, or individual PCB congeners in the whole material or among priniparae, or among boys or girls. The concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs and EPCBs in human milk were modeled for primiparae by weighing fish consumption, age of mother, milk fat content, and BMI before pregnancy. The linear regression resulted in values of R = 0.67 and 0.30 for the modeled dioxin I-TEQs in the urban and rural areas, respectively, and the corresponding values for XPCBs of R = 0.60 and 0.11. The increase of PCDD/PCDF body burden was calculated to be on average 0.58 pg I-TEQ/g milk fat/year in the urban area and 0.39 pg I-TEQ/g milk fatlyear in the rural area.

Maternal contamination with PCBs and reproductive outcomes in an Australian population

“…Similar to our study, several previous studies have found no significant association between the concentration of PCBs in milk samples and birth weight of primiparas (Rogan et al, 1986;Vartiainen et al, 1998) or head circumference (Rogan et al, 1986). Several studies which have measured fetal exposure to PCBs by maternal fish intake from contaminated waters did not find associations between high intake of PCBs in the mother and miscarriage (Axmon et al, 2000), stillbirth (Axmon et al, 2000;Rylander et al, 2000), spontaneous fetal death (Mendola et al, 1995) or congenital malformations .…”

“…Our measures were less than some similar previous studies using breast milk for PCB contamination measurement (Rogan et al, 1986;Schade and Heinzow, 1998;Vartiainen et al, 1998).…”

Prenatal exposure to PCDDs/PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs in relation to birth weight

“…The levels of PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs in maternal blood during pregnancy more directly evaluate the fetal exposure levels than those levels in breast milk. Our study is the first to report the influence of the levels of PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs in maternal blood on birth weight, although Vartiainen et al, Tajimi et al and Nishijo et al have studied the effects on birth weight using those levels in breast milk (Vartiainen et al, 1998;Tajimi et al, 2005;Nishijo et al, 2008). We also examined which individual congeners of PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs have harmful effects on birth weight.…”

“…The influence of low-level exposure to PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs on birth size has not been reported as frequently as exposure to organochlorine pesticides and PCBs. A Finnish study reported that birth weight, especially of boys, correlated negatively with TEQ levels of PCDDs/PCDFs in breast milk (Vartiainen et al, 1998). Another recent study examining the effects of individual congeners of PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs on birth weight reported that only OCDD levels in breast milk had a significant negative correlation (Tajimi et al, 2005).…”

“…Thus, reported results on the relationship between birth weight and the levels of PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs are currently limited and inconsistent. Furthermore, some studies have reported a difference between genders with regard to the effects of PCBs and PCDDs/PCDFs on birth outcomes (Rylander et al, 1996;Baibergenova et al, 2003;Sonneborn et al, 2008;Hertz-Picciotto et al, 2005;Vartiainen et al, 1998).…”