title: Regional variation and possible sources of brominated contaminants in breast milk from Japan.
abstract: This study focuses on the regional trends and possible sources of brominated organic contaminants accumulated in breast milk from mothers in southeastern (Okinawa) and northwestern (Hokkaido) areas of Japan. For persistent brominated flame retardants, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs; major components, BDE-47 and BDE-153) were distributed at higher levels in mothers from Okinawa (mean, 2.1 ng/g lipid), while hexabromobenzene (HeBB) and its metabolite 1,2,4,5-tetrabromobenzene were more abundantly detected in mothers from Hokkaido (0.86 and 2.6 ng/g lipid), suggesting that there are regional differences in their exposure in Japan. We also detected naturally produced brominated compounds, one of which was identified as 2'-methoxy-2,3',4,5'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (2'-MeO-BDE68) at higher levels in mothers from Okinawa (0.39 ng/g lipid), while the other was identified as 3,3',4,4'-tetrabromo-5,5'-dichloro-2,2'-dimethyl-1,1'-bipyrrole in mothers from Hokkaido (0.45 ng/g lipid). The regional variation may be caused by source differences, i.e. southern seafood for MeO-PBDEs and northern biota for halogenated bipyrroles in the Japanese coastal water.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Yoshida, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Kouji H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hitomi
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haraguchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005411:Flame Retardants; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls