Toms Leisa-Maree L, Hearn Laurence, Kennedy Karen, Harden Fiona, Bartkow Michael, Temme Christian, Mueller Jochen F
The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD, 4108, Australia.
Environ Int. 2009 Aug;35(6):864-9. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2009.03.001. Epub 2009 Apr 5.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are lipophilic, persistent pollutants found worldwide in environmental and human samples. Exposure pathways for PBDEs remain unclear but may include food, air and dust. The aim of this study was to conduct an integrated assessment of PBDE exposure and human body burden using 10 matched samples of human milk, indoor air and dust collected in 2007-2008 in Brisbane, Australia. In addition, temporal analysis was investigated comparing the results of the current study with PBDE concentrations in human milk collected in 2002-2003 from the same region. PBDEs were detected in all matrices and the median concentrations of BDEs -47 and -209 in human milk, air and dust were: 4.2 and 0.3 ng/g lipid; 25 and 7.8 pg/m(3); and 56 and 291 ng/g dust, respectively. Significant correlations were observed between the concentrations of BDE-99 in air and human milk (r=0.661, p=0.038) and BDE-153 in dust and BDE-183 in human milk (r=0.697, p=0.025). These correlations do not suggest causal relationships - there is no hypothesis that can be offered to explain why BDE-153 in dust and BDE-183 in milk are correlated. The fact that so few correlations were found in the data could be a function of the small sample size, or because additional factors, such as sources of exposure not considered or measured in the study, might be important in explaining exposure to PBDEs. There was a slight decrease in PBDE concentrations from 2002-2003 to 2007-2008 but this may be due to sampling and analytical differences. Overall, average PBDE concentrations from these individual samples were similar to results from pooled human milk collected in Brisbane in 2002-2003 indicating that pooling may be an efficient, cost-effective strategy of assessing PBDE concentrations on a population basis. The results of this study were used to estimate an infant's daily PBDE intake via inhalation, dust ingestion and human milk consumption. Differences in PBDE intake of individual congeners from the different matrices were observed. Specifically, as the level of bromination increased, the contribution of PBDE intake decreased via human milk and increased via dust. As the impacts of the ban of the lower brominated (penta- and octa-BDE) products become evident, an increased use of the higher brominated deca-BDE product may result in dust making a greater contribution to infant exposure than it does currently. To better understand human body burden, further research is required into the sources and exposure pathways of PBDEs and metabolic differences influencing an individual's response to exposure. In addition, temporal trend analysis is necessary with continued monitoring of PBDEs in the human population as well as in the suggested exposure matrices of food, dust and air.
多溴二苯醚（PBDEs）是亲脂性的持久性污染物，在全球范围内的环境和人体样本中均有发现。PBDEs的暴露途径尚不清楚，但可能包括食物、空气和灰尘。本研究的目的是利用2007年至2008年在澳大利亚布里斯班采集的10对匹配的母乳、室内空气和灰尘样本，对PBDEs暴露和人体负荷进行综合评估。此外，还进行了时间分析，将本研究结果与2002年至2003年从同一地区采集的母乳中PBDEs浓度进行比较。在所有基质中均检测到了PBDEs，母乳、空气和灰尘中BDE - 47和 - 209的中位浓度分别为：4.2和0.3 ng/g脂质；25和7.8 pg/m³；56和291 ng/g灰尘。在空气中的BDE - 99浓度与母乳中BDE - 99浓度之间（r = 0.661，p = 0.038）以及灰尘中的BDE - 153浓度与母乳中的BDE - 183浓度之间（r = 0.697，p = 0.025）观察到显著相关性。这些相关性并不意味着因果关系——没有任何假设可以解释为什么灰尘中的BDE - 153与母乳中的BDE - 183相关。数据中发现的相关性如此之少，可能是由于样本量小，或者是因为研究中未考虑或测量的其他因素，如暴露源，可能对解释PBDEs暴露很重要。从2002年至2003年到2007年至2008年，PBDEs浓度略有下降，但这可能是由于采样和分析差异所致。总体而言，这些个体样本中的PBDEs平均浓度与2002年至2003年在布里斯班采集的混合母乳结果相似，这表明混合样本可能是在人群基础上评估PBDEs浓度的一种有效且具有成本效益的策略。本研究结果用于估计婴儿通过吸入、摄入灰尘和食用母乳的每日PBDEs摄入量。观察到不同基质中单个同系物的PBDEs摄入量存在差异。具体而言，随着溴化程度的增加，通过母乳摄入PBDEs的贡献减少，而通过灰尘摄入的贡献增加。随着低溴化（五溴和八溴二苯醚）产品禁令的影响变得明显，高溴化十溴二苯醚产品使用的增加可能导致灰尘对婴儿暴露的贡献比目前更大。为了更好地了解人体负荷，需要进一步研究PBDEs的来源和暴露途径以及影响个体对暴露反应的代谢差异。此外，随着对人群以及食物、灰尘和空气等建议暴露基质中PBDEs的持续监测，进行时间趋势分析是必要的。
