title: Partitioning behavior of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants among feto-maternal bloods and tissues.
abstract: Heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including Pb, Cd, T-Hg, MeHg, PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PBDEs, PCNs, and PBDD/Fs, were analyzed in 20 paired samples of cord blood, maternal blood, maternal urine, and placenta. The samples were collected from pregnant mothers and neonates from South Korea in 2010. The distribution of heavy metals among the samples varied with their physicochemical characteristics. The concentrations of Pb and Hg in the maternal and the cord blood samples were significantly correlated each other, implying efficient transplacental transport (TPT). Cd and Hg were accumulated in the placenta, forming protein conjugates, and T-Hg was higher in the cord blood samples than the maternal blood samples due to the binding affinity of Hg with fetal proteins. POPs generally showed the highest concentrations in the maternal serum samples, and the POPs levels in the cord serum and the placenta samples were dependent on the degree of halogenation. The TPT of POPs was seemingly related to lipoprotein transportation. Some PBDE congeners, however, showed their highest concentrations in the cord serum samples, suggesting an additional TPT mechanism. This is the first study to detect PCNs and PBDD/Fs in the cord serum samples, showing that the PCN levels were comparable to other POPs. According to the principal component analysis (PCA) results of the contaminant levels, POPs and heavy metals showed significantly different characteristics, whereas PBDEs had an intermediate attribute. Despite the limited number of participants, the comprehensive analysis of trace contaminants in the paired sample sets enabled us to infer the distribution and TPT mechanism of various contaminants.
authors.affiliation: †School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 790-784, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Tae
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: †School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 790-784, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: ‡School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 790-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Duk-Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: ‡School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 790-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Won Joon
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.affiliation: §School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, 500-712, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seunghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: †School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 790-784, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Seok
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000097:blood*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000097:blood*; D010920:Placenta / Q000737:chemistry; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea
chemical_list: D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D008628:Mercury