Large amounts of herbicides containing polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo-furans (PCDD/Fs) were sprayed in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Levels of PCDD/Fs in the environment of South Vietnam remained high even 40 years later. A total of 861 breast milk samples (597 from three areas sprayed with herbicides, Quang Tri, Da Nang, and Bien Hoa, and 264 from three unsprayed areas in North Vietnam) were collected between 2007 and 2015 and the PCDD/F concentrations in the samples were determined. Levels of TEQ-PCDD/Fs and 17 PCDD/F congeners were higher in the sprayed area samples than the unsprayed area samples. We found particular PCDD/F congener patterns for different areas. High tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) concentrations were found in Bien Hoa, high TCDD and 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexadibenzo-p-dioxin concentrations were found in Da Nang, and high 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptadibenzo-p-dioxin concentrations were found in Quan Tri. High 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexadibenzofuran and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptadibenzofuran concentrations were also found in Da Nang and Quang Tri. However, breast feeding may have caused associations between the TCDD and polychlorinated dibenzofuran congener concentrations. Advanced statistical analysis will need to be performed in future to assess the characteristic PCDD/F congener profiles in breast milk samples from areas of Vietnam previously sprayed with herbicides.
Keywords: Vietnam; breast milk; congener profile; dioxin; herbicide.