Comparison of the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins in mothers affected by the Yusho incident and their children

► Accumulated maternal dioxins are passed onto the fetus and neonate via the placenta or maternal milk. ► We investigated differences in blood dioxin concentrations in Yusho mother-children pairs. ► The mean blood dioxin levels in the offspring were only a fraction of the levels in their mothers. ► The blood dioxin levels in the breast-fed group were higher than that in the formula-fed group.