Institution: | aDepartment of Environmental Medicine, Center for Community Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan bCollege of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, 050017 Shijiazhuang, China cThe Second Hospital, Hebei Medical University, 050000 Shijiazhuang, China dCREST-JST, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan eHospital of Gynaecology and Maternity of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang 050017, China fFukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, 39 Mukaizano, Dazaifu, Fukuoka 818-0135, Japan gFaculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kummoro 862-8502, Japan hHiyoshi Corporation, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8636, Japan iNational Institute of Health and Nutrition, Ohmihachiman 523-8555, Japan jSRL Inc., Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8567, Japan kXenobiotic Detection System International Inc., Durham, NC 27704, USA |
Abstract: | Very limited information is available on body burdens and environmental levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) in mainland China. In the current studies, human milk samples were collected from 30 breastfeeding mothers in Shijiazhuang city (industrialized) and 11 in the Tanshan countryside (agricultural) of Hebei Province in northern China. An additional 20 samples were obtained from mothers in Tokyo, Japan. PCDDs, PCDFs, and dl-PCBs in human milk were analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Our results show that arithmetic means for body burdens of PCDDs/Fs and dl-PCBs in Hebei were 3.6 and 1.9 pg TEQ g−1 fat, respectively, which were only about one fourth of the levels in Japan. In addition, no difference was found in the chemical levels except dl-PCBs between the urban and rural areas. Based on the results of an in-person interview of the Chinese mothers using a 59-item questionnaire, freshwater fish consumption was found to correlate with the body burden of dioxins. Principal component analysis of dioxin congeners revealed that the patterns of dioxins in the Hebei urban and rural areas are quite similar; however, they are clearly different from those in Japan. Collectively, our results suggest that the lower body burdens of dioxin in Hebei may be due in part to the relatively slow industrialization and a lower consumption of marine foods. Finally, the results indicate that comprehensive monitoring of dioxins and dl-PCBs in humans as well as in the environment and foods is necessary in China. |