PCB levels in breast milk: data from the UNEP/WHO pilot project on biological monitoring and some other recent studies.

Abstract

The levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human milk provide an index of exposure of the mother to these compounds and enable the intake by the breast-fed child to be estimated. For valid comparisons between different studies, concentrations should be expressed on a milk fat basis. In a recently completed UNEP/WHO pilot project on monitoring of organochlorine compounds in human milk in ten countries, great emphasis was placed on analytical quality assurance. To obtain comparable data, a common procedure, that of Sawyer, was adopted for quantitation of PCBs, using Aroclor 1260 as standard. In addition, certain criteria (e.g., age and parity) were established for selection of the mothers to be sampled. In contrast to the situation with p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE, the levels of PCBs in human milk fat were higher in the European countries and Japan than in China, India and Mexico. In fact, PCBs were not detected in human milk in the latter three countries. Although PCBs were detected in some samples in the USA, the median level was below the limit of detection of the method used there (1 mg/kg fat). The median PCB levels reported from Belgium, Israel, Japan and Yugoslavia were 0.81, 0.45, 0.35 and 0.63 mg/kg fat, respectively. Higher median levels were reported from Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany (0.97 and 2.1 mg/kg fat, respectively). The German samples were not analyzed by the Sawyer method.

Effect of TCDD Exposure on CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 Expression in Explant Cultures of Human Endometrium

“…In Belgium, Koninckx et al (1994) reported that the incidence of endometriosis (60 -80%) in women with infertility and pain was among the highest in the world. They noted the parallel, but not direct, association of breast milk dioxin concentrations in this country also being among the highest in the world (Slorach and Vaz, 1985). In Israel, Mayani et al (1997) showed that 8/44 infertile women with endometriosis had elevated dioxin levels compared to only 1/35 women with tubal infertility (p ϭ 0.04).…”

Exposure to organochlorine compounds of population groups in Croatia

“…The comparison of exposure levels in Croatia with those in other countries can best be made with studies co‐ordinated by the World Health Organization. Levels of organochlorine pesticides in Croatia were similar to those found in most European countries, but lower than in countries with an active use of organochlorine pesticides (India, China); PCB levels were lower than those found in other European countries, but higher than in India, China or Mexico where PCB levels were below the detection limit[15, 16]. Two exposure studies on PCB, PCDD and PCDF co‐ordinated by the WHO‐Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, showed that PCB levels in Croatia (420‐500 μ g/kg milk fat) are on the lower limit of the European range (420‐1200 μ g/kg milk fat); PCDD and PCDF levels in Croatia were about the same as in east European countries, but lower than in west European countries[17].…”

“…Several international exposure studies co‐ordinated by the World Health Organization generated comparable data on levels in human milk collected in different countries. These studies were performed with strong emphasis on the methodology, through rigid quality control, and each study had a common sampling protocol[15, 16, 17, 18, 19]. Croatia participated in three studies.…”

An Overview of Some Reproductive Toxicology Studies Conducted At Health Canada

“…There are numerous reports (Jensen and Sundstr6m, 1974;Akiyama et al, 1975;Van Hove Holdrinet et al, 1977;Szymczynski and Waliszewski, 1981;Trapp et al, 1984;Murphy and Harvey, 1985;Slorach and Vaz, 1985;Bechter and Hall, 1987;Frank et al, 1988;Kannan et al, 1988;Jacobson et al, 1989;Jensen, 1989;Schlebusch et al, 1989;Stachel et al, 1989;Robinson et al, 1990;Chia et al, 1992;Brodet et al, 1993;Jarrell et al, 1993b;Krauthacker, 1993) on trace levels of contaminants in human serum, breast milk, fat, ovarian follicular fluid, and seminal plasma. Initially, our studies were designed to determine the extent to which a number of common environmental pollutants were present in the serum, fat, and ovarian follicular fluid of Canadian women participating in fertility clinics.…”