Polybromodiphenyl ethers in mothers and their newborns from a non-occupationally exposed population (Valencia, Spain)

Abstract

6 páginas, 2 figuras, 2 tablas. ; Polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in blood serum of pregnant women and in cord blood serum of their newborns from a general population cohort (n = 174; Valencia, Spain). The most abundant PBDE congeners identified were BDE 47, BDE 99, BDE 153, BDE 154 and BDE 209. Their cord blood serum concentrations were about 45% of those in maternal serum but after lipid normalization median of total PBDEs was 9.6 ng/g lipid in cord serum (concentrations encompassing between not detected and 140 ng/g lipid) and 9.6 ng/ lipid in maternal serum(concentrations covering between not detected and 120 ng/g lipid). The distributions of these compounds were dominated by BDE 47 in both cases. In cord blood serum the decreasing order of abundance was BDE 47 > BDE 99 > BDE 209 > BDE 153 > BDE 154. The congener composition in maternal serum followed a similar trend: BDE 47 > BDE 153 > BDE 154 > BDE 209 > BDE 99. The congener concentrations exhibited a higher degree of correlation in cord blood than in maternal serum. Use of the maternal determinants for categorization of the observed maternal and fetal PBDE concentrations only showed significant associations for the levels in umbilical cord. Neonates from rural areas exhibited statistically significantly lower concentrations than those from urban, semi-urban or metropolitan sites. Maternal serum also showed this difference but the higher dispersion of the concentrations in maternal serum did not afford its recognition with statistical significance. The lower qualitative and quantitative variability in the PBDE concentrations of cord blood serum than maternal serum suggest that the latter is reflecting PBDE contributions from a wider diversity of sources than the former whereas cord blood sera seems to represent the long term standing stock of these compounds accumulated in the maternal tissues. ; The authors are grateful to the mothers who participated in the study and to Hospital La Fe. Funding was received from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Ministry of Science and Innovation (INMA G03/ 176, Consolider Ingenio GRACCIE, CSD2007-00067, FIS-FEDER: 03/ 1615, 04/1112, 04/1509, 04/1666, 05/1987, 06/1213 and 09/2647), Council of Health from the Autonomous Valencian Government (Generalitat Valenciana), Fundacio Roger Torne and ArcRisk EU Project (FP7-ENV-2008-1-226534) ; Peer reviewed