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Kim Hooper,¹ Myrto X. Petreas,¹ Tamara Chuvakova,² Gulnara Kazbekova,³ Natalia Druz,⁴ Gulnara Seminova,⁵ Turgeldy Sharmanov,⁵ Douglas Hayward,⁶ Jianwen She,¹ Pat Visita,¹ Jennifer Winkler,¹ Michael McKinney,¹ Timothy J. Wade,¹ Jean Grassman,⁷ and Robert D. Stephens¹

¹Hazardous Materials Laboratory, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, CA 94707 USA; ²Physicians Institute of Postgraduate Training, Kazakstan Ministry of Health, Almaty, Kazakstan
³Kazakstan Ministry of Health, Almaty, Kazakstan
⁴Kazmekhanobr (Research in Industrial Ecology), Almaty, Kazakstan
⁵Institute of Nutrition, Almaty, Kazakstan
⁶Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC 20204 USA
⁷National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA

Abstract

To assess levels of chlorinated contaminants in breast milk, we measured organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) , and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in breast milk samples collected in 1994 according to the World Health Organization protocol from 92 donors that were representative of regional populations in southern Kazakstan. High levels (10-120 pg/g fat) of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) , the most toxic of the PCDD/PCDF congeners, were found in breast milk samples from an agricultural region. TCDD was the major contributor (75%) to the international toxicity equivalents of these samples. The same distinctive PCDD/PCDF congener pattern was found in 15 breast milk samples and 4 serum samples collected in 1996 in a follow-up study, and has now been confirmed by three analytical laboratories. Key words: breast milk, co-planar PCBs, dioxins, exposure assessment, furans, Kazakstan, TCDD. Environ Health Perspect 106:797-806 (1998) . [Online 13 November 1998]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1998/106p797-806hooper/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to K. Hooper, Hazardous Materials Laboratory, California Environmental Protection Agency, 2151 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94707 USA.

We express our appreciation to the women of Kazakstan who volunteered for this study and the health professionals who assisted in the recruitment, interviewing, and sample collection. These included T. Paltusheeva, A. Mamaikov, and T. Kim, Kazakstan Ministry of Health, and S. Danelenko and A. Tulenova, interpreters. We also thank G. Lucier (NIEHS) , D. Patterson and W. Turner (CDC) , and Y.Y. Cheng for their technical assistance.

This study was funded in part by Cooperative Agreement DPE_5966_A_00_1045_00 between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Wellstart International, by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Trout Farm, Ltd. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, Wellstart International, or the NIEHS.

Received 9 March 1998 ; accepted 16 July 1998.