Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) and their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PBDEs) in female serum from Dalian, China

Seven polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and eleven hydroxylated PBDEs (OH-PBDEs) were selected to investigate their contamination status in 32 female serum samples from Dalian, China. These studied PBDEs and OH-PBDEs were found in most of the serum samples with the concentrations of ΣPBDEs and ΣOH-PBDEs ranging from 1.07 to 38.7 ng/g lipid (median: 5.56 ng/g lipid) and from 0.011 to 0.436 ng/g lipid (median: 0.069 ng/g lipid), respectively. More impressively, BDE-47 and OH-BDE-47 were the predominant congeners in female serum, accounting for 52% of ΣPBDEs and 46% of ΣOH-PBDEs, respectively. Correspondence analysis indicated that significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations were observed between BDE-47 and its metabolites such as 6-OH-BDE-47, 3-OH-BDE-47 and 4′-OH-BDE-49. In addition, the positive significant (p < 0.05) correlation was shown between ∑PBDEs and lipid contents but between concentrations of ∑PBDEs and ages or BMIs, as well as for ∑OH-PBDEs.