Reproductive Toxicology, Vol. 4, pp. 17-20, 1990 0890-6238/90 $3.00 + .00 Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright © 1990 Pergamon Press plc HUMAN COLOSTRUM AS A SOURCE OF ORGANOHALOGEN XENOBIOTICS FOR A BREAST-FED NEONATE RADZISLAW SIKORSKI,* TOMASZ PASZKOWSKI,* TADEUSZ RADOMANSKI,* ALICJA NIEWlADOWSKA,t and STANISLAW SEMENIUKt *Clinic of Gynecology, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Academy of Medicine, Lublin, Poland, and tDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Pulawy, Poland Abstract -- The concentrations of p,p'-isomers of DDT, DDE, and DDD, and alpha, beta, and gamma isomers of hexachlorohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined by means of gas-liquid chromatography in 3/4 postpartum day colostrum of 54 normal women. The milk levels of t-DDT, t-HCH, HCB, and PCBs correlated significantly with one another. The contents in milk of all the studied organohalides significantly increased with maternal age. The average daily intakes of t-DDT and PCBs were estimated for the studied neonates. Values exceeding the Acceptable Dally Intake values (ADIs) recommended by the WHO for t-DDT and PCBs were found for 70.4% and 24.1% of subjects, respectively. The present study confirms the trends in organohalogen residues of human milk observed by us in the studied region's inhabitants during the 17 years of monitoring (1970-1987), i.e., a consistent decline in t-DDT levels and an increase in PCB content in the present decade as compared to the 1970s. In conclusion, despite legal restrictions in their usage, the contamination with organohalides persist in human milk at a level that may result in neonatal alimentary exposure exceeding the recommended daily intakes. Key Words: human milk; DDT; organohalogens; PCBs; neonatalrisks; xenobiotics in human milk; colostrum; breast feeding. INTRODUCTION The growing awareness of human milk contamination with environmental xenobiotics has recently drawn the attention of perinatologists to the potentially adverse effects of these pollutants on breast-fed infants (1, 2, 3). Breast-milk contamination with chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been of particular concern (1, 4-7). Due to their known toxicity, the use of DDT and its derivatives has been restricted in Poland since 1971, and the use of PCBs has recently been limited to closed industrial systems (5,6). However, in spite of legal regulations, these compounds still represent a health hazard due to their intense bioaccumulation in organ- isms, such as humans, at the end of food chain (5,6). These chemicals are not readily degraded in the environ- ment nor are they completely metabolized or excreted by living organisms. Therefore, they produce low-level but ubiquitous contamination of human beings. In view of highly lipophyllic character of organo- halides, human milk is an important vehicle for these xenobiotics (8-10). The only way known to excrete large Address correspondence to: Professor RadzislawSikorski, Clinic of Gynecology, 20-090 Lublin, Jaczewskiego 8, Poland. Received 3 January 1989; Revision received 23 April 1989; Accepted 1 May 1989. amounts of these chemicals is through lactation (1,3). For the offspring, this route is of much greater impor- tance than the limited amount transferred via placenta (11). Hence, there is a pressing need for perinatologists to have current data on human milk contamination with these pollutants and on neonatal exposure associated with breast-feeding. MATERIALS AND METHODS As a continuation of monitoring research by our research team since 1970 (12,13), the concentrations of selected organohalides were determined in 3/4 postpar- tum day colostrum of 54 normal women. The samples were collected between March and June 1987. Milk was manually expressed by the mother after the infant had been nursed (hindmilk) between 8 AM and 2 PM into dark-glass containers with the addition of 1.0 mL pure formalin. The milk specimens, which varied in volume from 50 to 100 mL were immediately frozed at -20°C until analyzed. The chemicals quantitied were: p,p'- isomers of DDT, DDE, and DDD, and alpha, beta, and gamma isomers of hexachlorohexane (HCH), hexachlo- robenzene, and PCBs. The organohalides were analyzed by means of gas liquid chromatography following an extraction and separation procedure based on the modi- fied Wood's method and chromatographic column tech- niques. Details of chemical analysis are presented elsewhere 17