Photoinitiators in Breast Milk from United States Donors: Occurrence and Implications for Exposure in Infants

Abstract

Although photopolymerization is generally considered a green technology for polymer production, it is not a panacea. Indeed, recent reports have identified environmental contamination by photoinitiators (PIs), key additives used in photopolymerization. In the present study, the occurrence of 25 PIs8 benzophenones (BZPs), 9 amine co-initiators (ACIs), 4 thioxanthones (TXs), and 4 phosphine oxides (POs)was investigated in human breast milk samples from United States donors. Fifteen PIs were detected in the breast milk samples, with ΣPIs in a wide range of 0.46−81.7 ng/mL (geometric mean (GM): 10.9 ng/mL). BZPs (GM: 10.3 ng/mL) were the dominant group, contributing 94.4% to ΣPIs, followed by ACIs (GM: 0.19 ng/mL), POs (GM: 0.15 ng/mL), and TXs (GM: 0.028 ng/mL). Among the 15 detected congeners, benzophenone (GM: 8.23 ng/mL) was the dominant congener, contributing 82.9% and 79.0% to ΣBZPs and ΣPIs, respectively. No significant relationship was found between the PI concentrations and donor characteristics (age and ethnicity). The estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of PIs (920−7.90 × 10 3 ng/kg bw/day) via breastfeeding were calculated for infants. The calculated EDIs correspond to low health risks. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation reporting the occurrence of 15 PIs in human breast milk and evaluating the implications for exposure in infants.

Occurrence of Multiple Bisphenol S Derivatives in Breast Milk from Chinese Lactating Women and Implications for Exposure in Breast-fed Infants

“…In addition to these newly identified BPS derivatives here, in fact, human breast milk is also a large sink of other recently reported emerging contaminants, including synthetic phenolic antioxidants, organophosphate esters, and photoinitiators, as well as many traditional contaminants. When multicomponent chemical exposures are taken into account, the substantial health risk for breast-fed infants may increase more significantly.…”

“…The estimated daily intake (EDI) of frequently detected phenols for various age groups of breast-fed infants via breast milk ingestion was evaluated using the measured concentration ( C ) multiplied by the daily milk ingestion rate (MIR). − Two scenarios, the median-exposure scenario (MES) and the high-end-exposure scenario (HES), were considered, which were based on the measured median and the 95th percentile concentrations, respectively. As BPA, BPAF, BPS, 2,4-BPS, and BPSIP were the most frequently detected congeners, the EDI values of the five phenols, Σ 5 BPA analogues, Σ 7 BPS derivatives, and Σ 13 All are summarized in Table .…”

Widening the Lens on UV Filters: Newfound Ubiquity of Triazine UV Filters in Breast Milk from South China and Implications for Augmented “Cocktail” Exposure in Infants

“…The total concentration of the 11 detectable TA-UVFs (∑ 11 TA-UVFs) ranged from 570 to 14,000 pg/mL, with a median of 1350 pg/mL. Compared to that of other emerging chemicals of concern reported in breast milk in the last five years (Figure S4), the median level of ∑ 11 TA-UVFs was lower than those of photoinitiators (11,082 pg/mL, the U.S.) 27 and synthetic phenolic antioxidants (16,700 pg/mL, China), 28 comparable to those of melamine and its derivatives (1400 pg/ mL, the U.S.) 29 and nonphthalate plasticizers (1870 pg/mL, China) 26 but 1 order of magnitude higher than those of perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (121 pg/mL, the U.S.) 30 and bisphenol analogues (60.5 pg/mL, China). 31 Notably, the comparisons indicate that TA-UVFs are an important class of previously unrecognized pollutants present in breast milk.…”

Recent advances on ferrocene-based photoinitiating systems

“…Indeed, metal complexes are highly controversed photoinitiators/photosensitizers due to their potential toxicities and the resulting photopolymers can't be used for food packaging [290][291] or medical applications. [292][293][294][295][296][297][298][299][300][301] Recently, a great deal of efforts has been devoted to develop biosourced or bioinspired photoinitiating systems.…”