Persistent organic compounds in human milk and evaluation of the effectiveness of the Stockholm convention in Mexico

• Published in: Environmental advances 2022-07, Vol.8, p.100190, Article 100190
• Main Authors: Martínez, Carmen, Martínez Arroyo, Amparo, Barrientos Alemán, Dolores, Gavilán García, Arturo, Caba, Mario, Calderón Garcidueñas, Ana Laura, Mora, Arlene, Zenteno, Edgar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breastfeeding; Brominated compounds; DDT; Dioxins; Human milk; Organochlorine compounds
• ISSN: 2666-7657; 2666-7657
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100190

•Breast milk is the ideal food for humans, the first 6 months of life.•As part of the Stockholm Convention, POPs were quantified in milk from 50 Mexican mothers.•Mixtures of POPs were detected in all milk samples.•High concentrations of dioxin-like compounds were observed.•Mixtures of toxins even in low concentrations can have harmful effects on the fetus. Breast milk is the ideal food for humans, the first 6 months of life. However, due to its lipid content, it may contain persistent organic compounds (POPs). Therefore, the Stockholm Convention established a comparative monitoring of POPs in breast milk in different regions of the world. . As part of that project, our goal was to determine the presence and concentration of brominated and chlorinated POPs in breastmilk collected during 2019, from Mexican mothers residing in the agricultural state of Sinaloa. . Fifty healthy, primiparous women participated, whose milk samples were analyzed according to the WHO protocol, modified by UNEP. . The sum of the concentration of brominated compounds was 13.92 ng/g fat and the highest value corresponded to BDE-47 (7.67 ng/g fat). Among the chlorinated, p.p’-DDE had the highest concentration (537.99 ng/g fat) and the total concentration of DDTs was 622.23 ng/g fat. Among the dioxins and furans, dioxin-like and non-dioxin-like, the highest concentration was found in the dioxin-like PCB 118 (661 ng/g fat). Hexachlorobenzene concentration was also high (6.14 ng/g lipid) in comparison to other chlorinated compounds. Medium and short-chain chlorinated paraffins have a sum concentration of 140 ng/g lipid. Aldrin, Endrin, and Endrin ketone, Mirex, Toxaphene group, endosulfan group, chlordecone, p,p’-dicofol, pentachlorophenol, its metabolite pentachloroanisole and hexachlorobutadiene were not detected. . POPs were detected in all samples analyzed; the individual concentrations of the great majority of POPs appear to be below the limits considered "safe" for adults, except for dioxin-like (DL) compounds PCDDs and PCDFs. It should be considered that the susceptibility to toxics is different in an individual newborn, compared to an adult, in such a way that the sum, or empowerment of POPs even at low concentrations can result in permanent damage to the product.