Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the colostrum samples from the Yangtze River Region: Exposure profile and risk assessment

Fangjie Guo; Shanshan Yin; Haiyan Wang; Jianyun Zhang; Yingxue Liu; Muhammad Aamir; Weiping Liu

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117253

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the colostrum samples from the Yangtze River Region: Exposure profile and risk assessment

Environ Pollut. 2021 Sep 15:285:117253. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117253. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Authors

Fangjie Guo¹, Shanshan Yin², Haiyan Wang¹, Jianyun Zhang³, Yingxue Liu⁴, Muhammad Aamir⁵, Weiping Liu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Quality and Safety Engineering Institute of Food and Drug, School of Management Engineering and Electronic Commerce, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang, China.
² Interdisciplinary Research Academy (IRA), Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015, China. Electronic address: shanshanyin@zjsru.edu.cn.
³ Department of Nutrition and Toxicology, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, 311121, China.
⁴ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, Institution of Environmental Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
⁵ Water-Energy Resilience Research Laboratory, Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, 310024, China.
⁶ Interdisciplinary Research Academy (IRA), Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, 310015, China.

PMID: 33957509
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117253

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may transfer into the neonates through the placental transfer and via breastfeeding after the delivery, thus might be harmful to the infant. Sixty colostrum samples in the Yangtze River Region were collected to investigate the concentration, distribution pattern, and enantiomer characteristic of the PCB exposure. Among all samples, over 90% of pollutants were tetra-to hepta-chlorinated PCBs. The sum concentration of the PCB was 512 (IQR: 322-856) ng g^-1 lipid weight. Enantiomer fraction (EF) of PCB 95 and PCB 149 was found lower than the racemic value, while EFs of PCB 45 and PCB 136 were found higher and near-racemic state, respectively. The concentration pattern and enantiomeric properties of the PCBs indicated that the mothers from Mianyang had a recent exposure to PCBs. Among all samples, similar exposure and metabolic pathways of the PCB congeners were observed. PCB exposure showed no significant correlation with the birth outcome of the infants, but 43.3% of the infants have potential health risks via breastfeeding.

Keywords: Colostrum; Enantiomer characteristics; Exposure; Health risks; PCBs.

MeSH terms

Colostrum / chemistry
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Placenta / chemistry
Polychlorinated Biphenyls* / analysis
Pregnancy
Risk Assessment
Rivers

Substances

Polychlorinated Biphenyls