Monitoring of environmental contaminants in raw bovine milk and estimates of dietary intakes of children in South Korea

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are ubiquitous residual contaminants in the environment and in the food chain. Milk is an important matrix for monitoring POP contamination. This study determined the concentrations of POPs including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in raw bovine milk, and the data was used to estimate dietary intakes in South Korea. The average concentrations of PBDEs, HCB, PCDD/Fs, and DL-PCBs in raw milk were 0.29 ng g−1 fat, 0.50 ng g−1 fat, 0.27 pg TEQ g−1 fat, and 0.33 pg TEQ g−1 fat, respectively. No significant relationship was found between the concentrations of analytes and the regions sampled. The dietary intakes of PBDEs from the consumption of milk was calculated to be 0.26, 0.10, and 0.05 ng kg−1 bw d−1 for the group of ages 0-6, 7-12, and 13-19, respectively. The dietary intakes of HCB was calculated to be 0.44, 0.16, and 0.09 ng kg−1 bw d−1 for the group of ages 0-6, 7-12, and 13-19, respectively. The dietary intakes of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs was calculated to be 0.78, 0.29, and 0.16 pg TEQ kg−1 bw d−1 for the group of ages 0-6, 7-12, and 13-19, respectively. These results indicated that the residual levels of PBDEs, HCB, PCDD/Fs, and DL-PCBs in raw bovine milk were within safe levels.