Mother-child transfer rates of organohalogen compounds up to four years of age

Published October 21, 2019 | Version v1

Journal article Open

1. Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Corresponding author at: Ingolstädter Landstr, 1. 85764 Neuherberg in Munich, Germany. E-mail address: merce.gari@helmholtz-muenchen.de (M. Garí).
2. Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
3. Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya (AquAS), Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
4. IUOPA Medicine Department, University of Oviedo, Asturias, Spain; Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain; Institute of Health Research of the Principality of Asturias-Foundation for Biosanitary Research of Asturias (ISPA-FINBA), Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
5. Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain; IUOPA Medicine Department, University of Oviedo, Asturias, Spain; Institute of Health Research of the Principality of Asturias-Foundation for Biosanitary Research of Asturias (ISPA-FINBA), Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

Background: Breastfed children absorb persistent and toxic chemicals such as organohalogen compounds (OHCs)

during the entire lactation period. Nursing is a main contributor to the burden of these pollutants in the first

years of life, hence further assessments on the OHC load processes are needed.

Objectives: To identify the determinants of OHC increase in children at four years of age, considering concentration

gains, maternal venous concentrations and breastfeeding time.

Methods: Concentrations of 19 organochlorine compounds (OCs) and 14 polybrominated diphenyl ethers

(PBDEs) were analyzed in maternal venous (n=466), cord blood (n=326) and children venous serum at four

years of age (n=272) in the Asturias INMA cohort representing the Spanish general population. Data were

evaluated considering the socio-demographic and individual information collected at recruitment and follow up

surveys, as well as the OHC physical-chemical constants.

Results: The four years-old children concentration gains of the most abundant OHCs showed strong correlations

(R2=0.65–0.93) with the maternal concentrations during pregnancy and lactation period. The child gain/

maternal transfer rates of most correlated pollutants were similar.

Discussion: Between 65 and 93% of the variance of OCs in four years-old children was explained by the maternal

concentrations during pregnancy and the lactation period. The compounds with log(Kow) > 3.7 (hydrophobic)

showed analogous child gain/maternal transfer rates indicating similar processes of membrane lipid dissolution

and passive diffusion from the epithelial cells into the milk. Molecular weight of these pollutants did not influence

on these rates. Compounds with low log(Koa) such as hexachlorobenzene are more volatile and less

retained, involving lower child gain/maternal transfer rates. These results may be useful to anticipate the increase

of the concentrations of OCs in children using the maternal concentration of these compounds during

pregnancy and the planned lactation period and to implement prophylactic measures in mothers with high

venous pollutant concentrations.

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