Our findings indicate that (i) older men have increased sperm DNA damage associated with alkali-labile sites or single-strand DNA breaks and (ii) independent of age, men with substantial daily caffeine consumption have increased sperm DNA damage associated with double-strand DNA breaks. DNA damage in sperm can be converted to chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations after fertilization, increasing the risks of developmental defects and genetic diseases among offspring.

Background: The presence of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in breast milk has been documented, but their lactational transfer has been rarely studied. Determination of the elimination rates of these chemicals during breastfeeding is important and critical for assessing exposure in mothers and infants.Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between breastfeeding and maternal serum concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS). For a subset of the population, for whom we also have their infants’ measurements, we investigated associations of breastfeeding with infant serum PFAA concentrations.Methods: The present analysis included 633 women from the C8 Science Panel Study who had a child < 3.5 years of age and who provided blood samples and reported detailed information on breastfeeding at the time of survey. PFAA serum concentrations were available for all mothers and 8% (n = 49) of the infants. Maternal and infant serum concentrations were regressed on duration of breastfeeding.Results: Each month of breastfeeding was associated with lower maternal serum concentrations of PFOA (–3%; 95% CI: –5, –2%), PFOS (–3%; 95% CI: –3, –2%), PFNA (–2%; 95% CI: –2, –1%), and PFHxS (–1%; 95% CI: –2, 0%). The infant PFOA and PFOS serum concentrations were 6% (95% CI: 1, 10%) and 4% (95% CI: 1, 7%) higher per month of breastfeeding.Conclusions: Breast milk is the optimal food for infants, but is also a PFAA excretion route for lactating mothers and exposure route for nursing infants.Citation: Mondal D, Weldon RH, Armstrong BG, Gibson LJ, Lopez-Espinosa MJ, Shin HM, Fletcher T. 2014. Breastfeeding: a potential excretion route for mothers and implications for infant exposure to perfluoroalkyl acids. Environ Health Perspect 122:187–192; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306613

Health burdens associated with poor housing and indoor pest infestations are likely to affect young children in particular, who spend most of their time indoors at home. We completed environmental assessments in 644 homes of pregnant Latina women and their children living in the Salinas Valley, California. High residential densities were common, with 39% of homes housing > 1.5 persons per room. Housing disrepair was also common: 58% of homes had peeling paint, 43% had mold, 25% had water damage, and 11% had rotting wood. Evidence of cockroaches and rodents was present in 60% and 32% of homes, respectively. Compared with representative national survey data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, homes in our sample were more likely to have rodents, peeling paint, leaks under sinks, and much higher residential densities. The odds of rodent infestations in homes increased in the presence of peeling paint [odds ratio (OR) 2.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.5–3.1], water damage (OR 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2–2.7), and mold (OR 1.5; 95% CI, 1.0–2.1). The odds of cockroach infestation increased in the presence of peeling paint (OR 3.8; 95% CI, 2.7–5.6), water damage (OR 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2–2.9), or high residential density (OR 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2–3.8). Homes that were less clean than average were more prone to both types of infestations. Pesticides were stored or used in 51% of households, partly to control roach and rodent infestations. These data indicate that adverse housing conditions are common in this community and increase the likelihood of pest infestations and home pesticide use. Interventions to improve housing and promote children’s health and safety in this population are needed.

BackgroundBenzene is a common industrial chemical known to induce leukemia and other blood disorders, as well as aneuploidy, in both human blood cells and sperm at exposures > 10 ppm. Recent reports have identified health effects at exposure levels < 1 ppm, the permissible exposure limit (PEL; 8 hr) set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.ObjectiveWe investigated whether occupational exposures to benzene near 1 ppm induce aneuploidy in sperm.MethodsWe used multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization to measure the incidence of sperm with numerical abnormalities of chromosomes X, Y, and 21 among 33 benzene-exposed men and 33 unexposed men from Chinese factories. Individual exposures were assessed using personal air monitoring and urinary concentrations of benzene and trans,trans-muconic acid (E,E-MA). Air benzene concentrations were not detectable in unexposed men; in exposed men, concentrations ranged from below the detection limit to 24 ppm (median, 2.9 ppm), with 27% of exposed men (n = 9) having concentrations of ≤ 1 ppm. Exposed men were categorized into low and high groups based on urinary E,E-MA (median concentrations of 1.9 and 14.4 mg/L, respectively; median air benzene of 1 and 7.7 ppm, respectively), and aneuploidy frequencies were compared with those of unexposed men.ResultsSperm aneuploidy increased across low- and high-exposed groups for disomy X [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.1–3.4; and IRR = 2.8; 95% CI, 1.5–4.9, respectively], and for overall hyperhaploidy for the three chromosomes investigated (IRR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0–2.4; and IRR = 2.3; 95% CI, 1.5–3.6, respectively). We also found elevated disomy X and hyperhaploidy in the nine men exposed to ≤ 1 ppm benzene compared with unexposed men (IRR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1–3.0; and IRR = 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1–3.9, respectively).ConclusionsBenzene appeared to increase the frequencies of aneuploid sperm for chromosomes associated with chromosomal abnormality syndromes in human offspring, even in men whose air benzene exposure was at or below the U.S. permissible exposure limit.

Currently, there is no nationally representative human milk biomonitoring program in the United States (U.S.) and no studies have reported non-persistent pesticides in the milk of U.S. women. In this pilot study we developed a multiresidue laboratory method to measure non-persistent and persistent pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in human milk samples from women residing in the agricultural region of Salinas, CA (n = 13) and the urban San Francisco Bay Area, CA (n = 21). Samples were collected from 2002-2007. Median concentrations in pg g(-1) milk among urban and agricultural women, respectively were reported for: chlorpyrifos (24.5 and 28.0), cis-permethrin (81.9 and 103), trans-permethrin (93.1 and 176), hexachlorobenzene (191 and 223), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (220 and 443), o,p'-DDT (36.6 and 62.4), p,p'-DDT,(107 and 102), o,p'-DDE (5.65 and 5.17), p,p'-DDE (3170 and 3490), dacthal (2.79 and 3.43), PCB 118 (92.8 and 17.0), PCB 138 (183 and 38.2), PCB 153 (242 and 43.6) and PCB 180 (239 and 683). Among urban women, median concentrations were 4.02 and 4.32 pg g(-1) milk for chlorpyrifos-methyl and propoxur, respectively. These results suggest that neonates and young children may be exposed to persistent and non-persistent pesticides and PCBs via breast milk.

Background: Benzene is an industrial chemical that causes blood disorders, including acute myeloid leukemia. We previously reported that occupational exposures near the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit (8 hr) of 1 ppm was associated with sperm aneuploidy.Objective: We investigated whether occupational exposures near 1 ppm increase the incidence of sperm carrying structural chromosomal aberrations.Methods: We applied a sperm fluorescence in situ hybridization assay to measure frequencies of sperm carrying partial chromosomal duplications or deletions of 1cen or 1p36.3 or breaks within 1cen-1q12 among 30 benzene-exposed and 11 unexposed workers in Tianjin, China, as part of the China Benzene and Sperm Study (C-BASS). Exposed workers were categorized into low-, moderate-, and high-exposure groups based on urinary benzene (medians: 2.9, 11.0, and 110.6 µg/L, respectively). Median air benzene concentrations in the three exposure groups were 1.2, 3.7, and 8.4 ppm, respectively.Results: Adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all structural aberrations combined were 1.42 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.83), 1.44 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.85), and 1.75 (95% CI: 1.36, 2.24) and for deletion of 1p36.3 alone were 4.31 (95% CI: 1.18, 15.78), 6.02 (95% CI: 1.69, 21.39), and 7.88 (95% CI: 2.21, 28.05) for men with low, moderate, and high exposure, respectively, compared with unexposed men. Chromosome breaks were significantly increased in the high-exposure group [IRR 1.49 (95% CI: 1.10, 2.02)].Conclusions: Occupational exposures to benzene were associated with increased incidence of chromosomally defective sperm, raising concerns for worker infertility and spontaneous abortions as well as mental retardation and inherited defects in their children. Our sperm findings point to benzene as a possible risk factor for de novo 1p36 deletion syndrome. Because chromosomal aberrations in sperm can arise from defective stem cells/spermatogonia, our findings raise concerns that occupational exposure to benzene may have persistent reproductive effects in formerly exposed workers.

Capsule: Older men with higher dietary and supplement intake of certain micronutrients including vitamin C, vitamin E, folate, and zinc, but not β-carotene, may produce sperm with less DNA damage. Abstract (249 words)OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether lifestyle factors such as increased dietary intake of micronutrients reduce the risks of sperm DNA damage, and whether older men benefit more than younger men. DESIGN: Non-clinical group of 22-80-year-old non-smoking men (n~80) who reported no fertility problems.METHODS: Sociodemographics, occupational exposures, medical and reproductive histories, and lifestyle habits were determined by questionnaire. The average daily dietary and supplement intake of micronutrients (vitamin C, vitamin E,b-carotene, zinc, and folate) was determined using the 100-item Modified Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Associations between estimated micronutrient intake and sperm DNA damage, as well as their interactions with male age, were then assessed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: sperm DNA damage measured by alkaline and neutral DNA electrophoresis, i.e., sperm Comet. RESULTS: Men with highest intake of vitamin C had ~16% less sperm DNA damage (alkaline sperm Comet) than men with lowest intake (p<0.05), with similar findings for vitamin E, folate, and zinc (but not β-carotene). Older men (>44y) with highest vitamin C intake had ~20% less sperm DNA damage compared with older men with lowest intake (p<0.05), with similar findings for vitamin E and zinc. However, younger men (<44y) did not benefit from higher intakes of the micronutrients surveyed.CONCLUSIONS: Men with higher dietary and supplement intake of certain micronutrients may produce sperm with less DNA damage, especially among older men. This raises the broader question of how lifestyle factors including higher intakes of antioxidants and micronutrients might protect somatic as well as germ cells against age-associated genomic damage.

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