Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and indicator polychlorinated biphenyls in human milk from China under the Stockholm Convention

•PBDEs and indicator PCBs were measured in a national survey of breast milk.•There was reduction of BDE-47, 99, 100, 153 in human milk from 2007 to 2011.•Notable increase was observed for BDE-183 in most regions of China.•A significant decline in total indicator PCBs with an average reduction of 41%.

Seven congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) (BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153,BDE-154 and BDE-183) and six indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (PCB-28, PCB-52, PCB-101, PCB-138, PCB-153 and PCB-180) were measured in 32 regional pooled human milk samples originating from 1760 volunteering primiparous mothers to evaluate the current human body burden of general population and the temporal trend in China. Individual human milk samples were collected following a WHO-designed procedure. This work is one of parts of the evaluation of effectiveness of Stockholm Convention performance. The concentration of ∑7PBDEs ranged from 0.3 ng g−1 lipid to 4.0 ng g−1 lipid with a mean of 1.5 ng g−1 lipid. The concentration of ∑6PCBs ranged from 2.3 ng g−1 lipid to 19.0 ng g−1 lipid with a mean of 6.6 ng g−1 lipid. By comparing with background determination in 2007, there was no significance for ∑7PBDEs. However, BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-100 significantly decreased with an average of 45%, 48%, and 46%, respectively, from 2007 to 2011, and an increase of BDE-183 was founded in most regions. For ∑6PCBs, there was a significant decline with an average reduction of 41% from 2007 to 2011. These results indicate the effectiveness of reduction and elimination of POPs in China. Future national human milk biomonitoring is worthy to be done to further evaluate the time trend and effectiveness of the Convention performance.