Temporal trends of synthetic musk compounds in mother's milk and associations with personal use of perfumed products.
We analyzed two nitro musks (musk xylene and musk ketone) and five polycyclic musks (HHCB, AHTN, ADBI, ATII, and AHDI) in mother's milk from primiparae women (N = 101) living in Uppsala County, Sweden, 1996-2003. Possible temporal trends in musk concentrations and associations with lifestyle/medical factors, such as use of perfumed products during pregnancy were studied. HHCB showed the highest median concentration (63.9 ng/g lipid) followed by AHTN (10.4 ng/g) and musk xylene (MX) (9.5 ng/g). Concentrations of the other substances were, in most cases, below the quantification limit (2.0-3.0 ng/g). Women with a high use of perfume during pregnancy had elevated milk concentrations of HHCB, and elevated concentrations of AHTN were observed among women reporting use of perfumed laundry detergent. This strongly suggests that perfumed products are important sources of musk exposure both among the mothers and the nursed infants. Concentrations of AHTN and MX declined significantly between 1996 and 2003, suggesting a decline in the industrial use of the compounds in consumer products, or alterations in the consumer use pattern of perfumed products. No temporal trend in HHCB concentrations was seen. The lack of toxicity data makes it difficult to generalize about the safety of musk exposure of breast-fed infants.
Lignell
Sanna
S
National Food Administration, P.O. Box 622, SE-751 26 Uppsala, Sweden.
Darnerud
Per Ola
PO
Aune
Marie
M
Cnattingius
Sven
S
Hajslova
Jana
J
Setkova
Lucie
L
Glynn
Anders
A
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003358:Cosmetics; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D009812:Odorants; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden
D003358:Cosmetics; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; C008563:musk