A comparison of the concentrations of certain chlorinated hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in bone marrow and fat tissue of children and their concentrations in breast milk.

Chlorinated hydrocarbon (CHC) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in the bone marrow of 57 children were compared with the concentrations in adipose tissue of 50 children and the concentrations in breast milk in the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1991. The concentrations of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), the dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)-metabolites, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners no. 138 and no. 153 were increased threefold, while the concentrations of several hexachloro-cyclohexane (HCH)-isomers and PCB congener no. 180 were only increased twofold. Because breast feeding is the primary source of CHC and PCB in toddlers and infants we also compared the concentrations in bone marrow of children with the concentrations in breast milk and found approximately fourfold higher concentrations for the most highly chlorinated PCB congener no. 180, but only threefold higher concentration for PCB 138 and 153 and the DDT-metabolites. The concentrations of beta-HCH and HCB were only slightly higher in bone marrow.