PERSISTENT ORGANOHALOGEN COMPOUNDS IN HUMAN BREAST MILK COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS IN INDIA

摘要

The present study reports the concentrations of organohalogen compounds such as DDTs, HCHs, PCBs, PBDEs and HBCDs in human breast milk samples collected from different locations in India, including urban, suburban, urban slum, rural and municipal dumping site. The levels of organohalogen compounds were significantly higher in urban and municipal dumping sites than urban slum, sub urban and rural locations. DDTs and HCHs were the predominant contaminants followed by PCBs, PBDEs and HBCDs. In worldwide comparison, DDTs and HCHs were relatively high in human milk from India. However, the levels of PBDEs and HBCDs were comparable to many Asian and European countries but far lower than in America and Canada. Contamination pattern in human milk was different between southern and northern India, indicating regional specific exposure routes and variable sources. PBDE congener profiles in this study were different from the general pattern found in worldwide human milk, indicating specific exposure to PBDEs in Indian population.