Organochlorine compounds, nitro musks and perfluorinated substances in breast milk - results from Bavarian Monitoring of Breast Milk 2007/8.

The aim of the Bavarian Monitoring of Breast Milk (BAMBI) project was to examine 10 organochlorine pesticides (OPs), 3 nitro musks, 6 indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 7 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), 10 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), 12 dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) and several perfluorinated alkyl compounds in breast milk samples. A total of 516 breast milk samples were collected from seven regions in Bavaria and were analyzed by means of GC/ECD, GC/HRMS, and LC/MS-MS. Concerning the OPs, only hexachlorobenzene and a metabolite of DDT, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (p,p'-DDE), could be quantified in all samples (median: 16 ngg(-1) lipid and 63 ngg(-1) lipid, respectively). Median concentrations of 150 ngg(-1) lipid (range: 3-1900 ngg(-1) lipid) were found for the sum of the indicator PCBs. The concentrations of the PCDDs/PCDFs and the dl-PCBs ranged from 0.8 to 15.1 (median 5.7) pg WHO-TEQ1998g(-1) lipid and from 1.5 to 18.9 pg (median 6.4) WHO-TEQ1998 g(-1) lipid, respectively. The median perfluorooctane sulfonate concentration was 0.05 μgL(-1) (range: <0.02-0.26 μgL), while the other PFCs were observed only in a subset of samples. On the basis of the median and 95th percentile concentration, "medium" and "high" intake levels were estimated for a 3-month-old exclusively breastfed infant. In particular, "medium" and "high" intake levels were calculated of 69 and 133 pg WHO1998 TEQ kg(-1) b.w. for PCDDs/PCDFs, 8 and 21 ngkg(-1) b.w. for dl-PCBs, and 6 and 25 ngkg(-1) b.w. for perfluorooctane sulfonate, respectively. The calculated intake for perfluorinated substances is clearly below the tolerable daily intake (TDI), while the established TDI values are still clearly exceeded for PCDDs/PCDFs and dl-PCBs.