International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 215 (2012) 352–359 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/ijheh Time trends and individual characteristics associated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers in breast milk samples 2006–2009 in Lower Saxony, Germany Michael Hoopmann a,∗ , Urs-Vito Albrecht b , Edith Gierden a , René Huppmann a , Roland Suchenwirth a a Governmental Institute of Public Health of Lower Saxony (Niedersächsisches Landesgesundheitsamt), Roesebeckstraße 4-6, D-30449 Hannover, Germany b Institute of Legal Medicine, Hanover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, D-30625 Hannover, Germany article info Article history: Received 7 April 2011 Received in revised form 23 August 2011 Accepted 31 August 2011 Keywords: Brominated flame retardants PBDE Polybrominated diphenyl ethers Breast milk abstract Background: Since 2006 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations have been analyzed within the scope of the breast milk project conducted by the Governmental Institute of Public Health of Lower Saxony. Objectives: Temporal trends and regional distributions of the resident population as well as the relevance of individual factors influencing PBDE concentration were to be determined. Methods: Four PBDE congeners (BDE-47, BDE-153, BDE-99, BDE-100) have been analyzed. The concen- trations are fitted by linear regression models, whereby individual factors of the mother are surveyed by a standardized questionnaire. Results: A total of 2173 samples taken between 2006 and 2009 shows an estimated total PBDE mean value of 1.68 ng/g lipid weight (l.w.). In contrast to most other studies, the proportion of BDE-153 exceeds the one of BDE-47 (median: 0.51 ng/g l.w. vs. 0.31 ng/g l.w.). BMI shows a positive correlation with BDE-47 and a negative correlation with BDE-153, both statisti- cally significant (p < 0.001). For BDE-153, other significant factors (former breast feeding periods, birth year of the mother and country of birth) reflect also dilution effects and the time of accumulation. A decreasing temporal trend is observed for BDE-47 but not for BDE-153. Conclusions: The correlation patterns, the temporal trends and the various influencing factors may reflect differences in exposure sources and/or metabolism between the major congeners BDE-47 and BDE-153. Therefore it seems to be necessary to discuss the concentrations of BDE-47 and BDE-153 separately as leading indicators instead of using a total PBDE. © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Background The Lower Saxony breast milk program Breast milk has certain advantages as a sampling matrix: sam- pling is simple and noninvasive, with samples collected by the mother. It monitors body burdens in reproductive-age women and estimates in utero and nursing infant exposures, all of which is important to community health. Because the concentration of con- taminants in breast milk correlates with the concentrations in the fatty tissue of the maternal organism, time-trend data from breast milk monitoring can serve as a warning system that identifies chemicals whose body burdens and human exposure are increasing (Hooper and She, 2003). Furthermore, the relevance of individual factors on the contaminant concentration can be estimated, as can ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 511 4505 342; fax: +49 511 4505 4342. E-mail address: michael.hoopmann@nlga.niedersachsen.de (M. Hoopmann). reference values for the analyzed contaminant concentration in breast milk. Since 1999, mothers have been able to have their milk investi- gated at the Governmental Institute of Public Health of Lower Sax- ony (NGLA). Lower Saxony is one of the 16 states of Germany which is situated in the northwest of the country and neighbours the Netherlands. The central orientation of the program is the analytic- based nursing recommendation, which informs the mother regarding the burden on her milk. The routinely detected con- taminants include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and fragrance chemicals. Recent years show a continual decrease in the mean contaminant concentration in breast milk in Lower Saxony (Funcke et al., 2004; Zietz et al., 2008). Altogether, from 1999 to 2009 5976 breast milk data records from mothers living in Lower Saxony were collected, which in addition to the findings report contains information from a questionnaire regarding possible individual factors. Participants were recruited through flyers and informational material avail- able in doctors’ offices (gynecologists or pediatricians) or on the Internet. 1438-4639/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2011.08.019