Organochlorine compounds, nitro musks and perfluorinated substances in breast milk – Results from Bavarian Monitoring of Breast Milk 2007/8

•Levels of chlorinated and fluorinated POPs were determined in breast milk.•The body burden of the mother and the exposure of the infant were calculated.•For PFC the intake is clearly below the tolerable daily intake (TDI).•TDI values for PCDDs/PCDFs and dl-PCBs are still clearly exceeded.•In spite of these POPs in breast-milk, breastfeeding is still highly recommended.

The aim of the Bavarian Monitoring of Breast Milk (BAMBI) project was to examine 10 organochlorine pesticides (OPs), 3 nitro musks, 6 indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 7 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), 10 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), 12 dioxin-like PCBs (dl-PCBs) and several perfluorinated alkyl compounds in breast milk samples. A total of 516 breast milk samples were collected from seven regions in Bavaria and were analyzed by means of GC/ECD, GC/HRMS, and LC/MS-MS.Concerning the OPs, only hexachlorobenzene and a metabolite of DDT, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (p,p′-DDE), could be quantified in all samples (median: 16 ng g−1 lipid and 63 ng g−1 lipid, respectively). Median concentrations of 150 ng g−1 lipid (range: 3–1900 ng g−1 lipid) were found for the sum of the indicator PCBs. The concentrations of the PCDDs/PCDFs and the dl-PCBs ranged from 0.8 to 15.1 (median 5.7) pg WHO-TEQ1998 g−1 lipid and from 1.5 to 18.9 pg (median 6.4) WHO-TEQ1998 g−1 lipid, respectively. The median perfluorooctane sulfonate concentration was 0.05 μg L−1 (range: <0.02–0.26 μg L), while the other PFCs were observed only in a subset of samples.On the basis of the median and 95th percentile concentration, “medium” and “high” intake levels were estimated for a 3-month-old exclusively breastfed infant. In particular, “medium” and “high” intake levels were calculated of 69 and 133 pg WHO1998 TEQ kg−1 b.w. for PCDDs/PCDFs, 8 and 21 ng kg−1 b.w. for dl-PCBs, and 6 and 25 ng kg−1 b.w. for perfluorooctane sulfonate, respectively.The calculated intake for perfluorinated substances is clearly below the tolerable daily intake (TDI), while the established TDI values are still clearly exceeded for PCDDs/PCDFs and dl-PCBs.