Food Research Institute

Škarba, J. – Chovancová, J. – Drobná, B. – Čonka, K. – Nemeček, P. – Wimmerová, S.
Selected organochlorine and organobromine pollutants in breast milk from Slovakia and infant daily intake
Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 55, 2016, No. 4, s. 330-341

Kamil Čonka, Department of Toxic Organic Pollutants, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University, Limbová 12, 833 03 Bratislava, Slovakia. E-mail: kamil.conka@szu.sk

Received 8 June 2016; 1st revised 28 August 2016; accepted 10 October 2016; published online 17 November 2016

Summary: Toxic organic pollutants including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are anthropogenic compounds accumulated in human tissues through the food chain. In this study, 63 samples of breast milk were collected from urban and rural areas of three regions (west, central and east), including eight districts of Slovakia, and analysed for specific pollutants, including seven polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB-153), polybrominated biphenyl (PBB-153), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz) and alpha-, beta-, gamma- isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). Observed levels of sum of seven PBDEs were to be one of the lowest from those reported in worldwide studies with a median of 0.491 ng·g^-1 of lipid weight (lw). This study also contains the first information on the presence of PBB-153 in breast milk in Slovak mothers with a median of 0.014 ng·g^-1 lw. The highest levels of infant daily intake were determined for PCB-153 and HCB (median of 413 ng·kg^-1 and 235 ng·kg^-1 body weight per day, respectively). Slovakia still belongs to the countries with the highest HCB contamination. However, it is noteworthy that the concentration of HCHs, HCB and PeCBz in human milk decreased by more than a half in the period of 1993–2005.

Keywords: flame retardants; pesticides; biphenyls; breast milk

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