Body burdens of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in childbearing-aged women at an intensive electronic-waste recycling site in China

Abstract

Background, aim and scope This study is the first to investigate PBDE body burden with regard to the concurrent analyses of multiple human matrices, namely milk, placenta, and hair, collected from a group of childbearingaged women at an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling site to determine the partitioning of PBDEs in these different human matrices and the possible health risks imposed to infants at the e-waste recycling site. Methods and methods Five sets of milk, placenta, and hair samples were collected from an e-waste site (Taizhou, Zhejiang Province) and a reference site (Lin'an city, Zhejiang Province; 245 km away from Taizhou) in China. The concentrations of total PBDEs in different human tissues were analyzed according to US EPA standard methods. Results PBDE body burdens of women from the e-waste site (milk 117±191, 8.89-457 ng/g fat, placenta 19.5±29.9, 1.28-72.1 ng/g fat, hair 110±210, 8.47-486 ng/g dry wt.) showed significantly higher levels than those from the reference site (milk 2.06±0.94, 1.0-3.56 ng/g fat, placenta 1.02±0.36, 0.59-1.42 ng/g fat, hair 3.57±2.03, 1.56-5.61 ng/g dry wt.) and were higher than those reported in other studies, due to e-waste recycling operations, especially open burning. On a dry-weight basis, the following trend was found for PBDE among the samples from Taizhou: hair≫milk>placenta. Among the donors, the body burden of an e-waste worker ranked second. Higher brominated BDEs (hepta-BDEs) contributed a significantly greater proportion to total PBDEs in hair of the Taizhou women (20%) than that in milk (2.9%) and in placenta (2.6%). The estimated intake of PBDEs of 6-month-old breastfed infants living at the e-waste site was 572±839 ng/kg body wt/day, which was 57 times higher than that of infants from the reference site (10.1±4.60 ng/kg body wt/day). Moreover, the maximum calculated value (2,240 ng/kg body wt/day) exceeded the chronic oral reference dose for penta-BDE (2,000 ng/kg/day) of US EPA. Discussion BDE-47 was the dominant congener accounting for 20-30% in all the individual samples, while higherbrominated congeners, for example, contributed between 2% and 20%. The presence of hepta-BDE congeners in hair of the women in Taizhou suggest that thermal degradation of Deca-BDE from the open burning of e-waste may have been their source because these congeners are not found in either Penta-BDE or Octa-BDE technical products. Of the three types of samples analyzed, it was also suspected that hair may be more favorable to higher-brominated compounds which might explain why the hair samples contained the highest total PBDE concentrations and the highest proportion of higherbrominated BDEs (hepta-BDEs).

Dechlorane Plus and its dechlorinated analogs from an e-waste recycling center in maternal serum and breast milk of women in Wenling, China

“…For breast milk, P 23 PCBs 52,99,101,128,138,153,170,180,183,187,77,81,105,114,118,123,126,156,157,167,169,189) were 206.05 ng g À1 lw for Pingqiao and 359.03 ng g À1 lw for Luqiao (Zhao et al, 2007). The arithmetic mean level of P 36 PBDEs 8,10,11,12,13,15,17,25,28,30,32,33,35,37,47,49,66,71,75,77,85,99,100,116,118,119,126,138,153,154,155,166,181,183,190) was found to be 117 ng g À1 lw in Taizhou (Leung et al, 2010). Dechlorane Plus levels found in the current study were relatively low compared with PCBs/PBDEs data from human exposure in Taizhou region mentioned above.…”

“…The monodechlorinated compound was also found in Ren et al (2009), but it was unquantified. Generally, PCBs and PBDE concentrations in human tissues from the contamination area in Taizhou range from dozens to hundreds ng g À1 lw (Zhao et al, 2007(Zhao et al, , 2010Leung et al, 2010). In a study in 2006 on P 5 PCBs 118,153,183,and 180) in blood from two typical e-waste recycling sites in Taizhou (Luqiao and Wenling), the arithmetic mean level was 204.2 ng g À1 lw for Luqiao and 83.8 ng g À1 lw for Wenling, and P 8 PBDEs 47,99,100,153,154,180,and 209) were 117.58 ng g À1 lw for Luqiao and 357.44 ng g À1 lw for Wenling (Zhao et al, 2010).…”

Efectos biológicos derivados de la exposición a PBDES en trabajadores del reciclaje de e-waste: revisión sistemática

“…We found four studies that researched the presence of PBDEs metabolites in blood 22,24,25,37 Two articles about the presence of PBDEs in breast milk 19,38 and in placenta 19 were reviewed. Two publications 28,39 evaluated the impact of the improvement measure on industrial hygienic implemented in an e-waste company, measuring the changes in the levels of exposure and in the PBDEs congeners pattern.…”

“…All the studies reviewed 19,[30][31][32][33] , investigating the connection between work exposure to PBDEs and levels of PBDEs in hair, showed that levels of PBDEs in hair in the exposed population were significantly higher than those in control population (level of evidence 3).…”

“…It is especially concerning that hundred thousands of children work and live at e-waste recycling places. PBDEs have also been found in breastmilk, placenta and hair of childbearing-aged women in Taizhou (Zhejiang, China) -an important recycling center 19 and in blood samples from the umbilical cord of mother in Guiyu, showing that prenatal exposure to PBDEs may potentially affect newborns.…”