Abstract

Background:

The current production and use of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) at $>1\text{\hspace{0.17em}million tons}/\mathrm{y}$ likely exceeds the lifetime production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a concern to human health.

Objectives:

The United Nations Environment Programme conducts global surveys of human milk samples from individual countries as a noninvasive method of investigating levels and trends in human exposures to POPs such as CPs. We measured CP concentrations and assessed their relation to other POPs in pooled samples collected during 2012–2019.

Methods:

We analyzed 57 official nationwide pooled milk samples from 53 countries on five continents (Africa, Central/South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia/Oceania). CP concentrations were further characterized by subgroups and compared with concentrations of 19 other POPs, including PCBs and a variety of pesticides.

Results:

CPs were detected in pooled samples from all 53 countries, with concentrations of $23–700\text{\hspace{0.17em}ng}/\mathrm{g}$ lipid. CPs accounted for 18–46% of the total summed POPs in human milk, second only to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). CP concentrations exceeded PCB concentrations in pooled samples from most countries.

Discussion:

The presence of CPs in all samples, including samples from isolated locations (e.g., Pacific Island countries), emphasizes the ubiquitous presence of these compounds, whereas differences in subgroup ratios indicate a delay in the shift toward nonregulated medium-chain CPs (MCCPs) for these regions. The predominance of MCCPs in samples from many countries suggests a need for regulation and research on health effects. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7696

中文翻译：

---

53 个国家初产母亲的混合母乳样本中发现的与其他持久性有机污染物相关的氯化石蜡水平

摘要

背景：

目前氯化石蜡（CPs）的生产和使用情况$>1\text{\hspace{0.17em}百万吨}/\mathrm{是的}$可能超过多氯联苯 (PCB) 的生命周期产量。这些持久性有机污染物 (POPs) 是人类健康的一个问题。

目标：

联合国环境规划署对来自各个国家的母乳样本进行全球调查，作为调查人类接触 POPs（如 CPs）的水平和趋势的非侵入性方法。我们测量了 2012-2019 年收集的汇总样本中的 CP 浓度并评估了它们与其他 POPs 的关系。

方法：

我们分析了来自五大洲（非洲、中/南美洲、亚洲、欧洲和澳大利亚/大洋洲）53 个国家的 57 个官方全国混合牛奶样本。CP 浓度进一步按亚组表征，并与其他 19 种持久性有机污染物的浓度进行比较，包括多氯联苯和多种农药。

结果：

在来自所有 53 个国家的汇总样本中检测到 CP，浓度为$23–700\text{\hspace{0.17em}吴}/\mathrm{G}$脂质。CPs 占母乳中 POPs 总和的 18-46%，仅次于二氯二苯三氯乙烷 (DDT)。大多数国家的混合样本中 CP 浓度超过了 PCB 浓度。

讨论：

所有样品中 CPs 的存在，包括来自偏远地区（例如太平洋岛国）的样品，强调了这些化合物的普遍存在，而亚组比率的差异表明向非管制中链 CPs (MCCPs) 转变的延迟这些地区。来自许多国家的样本中 MCCP 的优势表明需要对健康影响进行监管和研究。https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7696