Relation of a Seafood Diet to Mercury, Selenium, Arsenic, and Polychlorinated Biphenyl and Other Organochlorine Concentrations in Human Milk

Grandjean, Philippe; Weihe, Pál; Needham, Larry L.; Burse, Virlyn W.; Patterson, Donald; Sampson, Eric J.; Jørgensen, Poul J.; Vahter, Marie

doi:10.1006/enrs.1995.1064

Cited by 174 publications

(113 citation statements)

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“…Whale blubber has high concentrations of organochlorine compounds (Borrell, 1993) and the PCB concentration in breast milk is therefore high in the Faroes compared to other Scandinavian countries (Grandjean et al, 1995a). In our study adjusting for PCB did not affect the associations described above.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

Effects of breast feeding on neuropsychological development in a community with methylmercury exposure from seafood

Jensen

Grandjean

Jørgensen

et al. 2005

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Breastfeeding has been associated with an advantage to infant neurobehavioral development, possibly in part due to essential nutrients in breast milk. However, breast milk may be contaminated by environmental neurotoxicants, such as methylmercury. In the Faroe Islands, where maternal consumption of pilot whale may cause transfer of marine toxicants into breast milk, a cohort of 1022 consecutive singleton births was generated during 1986-87. Methylmercury exposure was assessed from mercury concentrations in cord blood and in the hair of the child at age 12 months, and the duration of breastfeeding was recorded. At approximately 7 years of age, 917 (90%) of the children underwent detailed neurobehavioral examination. After adjustment for confounders, breastfeeding was associated with only marginally better neuropsychological performance on most tests. These associations were robust even after adjustment for cord-blood and hair mercury concentration at age 1 year. Thus, in this cohort of children with a relatively high prenatal toxicant exposure and potential exposure to neurotoxicants through breast milk, breastfeeding was associated with less benefits on neurobehavioral development than previously published studies though not associated with a deficit in neuropsychological performance at age 7. Although the advantage may be less, Faroese women can still safely breastfeed their children.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

Effects of breast feeding on neuropsychological development in a community with methylmercury exposure from seafood

Jensen

Grandjean

Jørgensen

et al. 2005

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…Earlier epidemiological studies have shown that Faroese residents may be highly exposed to PCBs, probably due to a traditional diet that includes whale and seabirds (Fängström et al, 2002;Fängström et al, 2004;Grandjean et al, 1995). In a birth cohort from 1987, relatively high levels of PCBs were detected in four pools of human milk samples, with ranges between 1.9 and 2.5 μg/g l.w (Grandjean et al, 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and traditional organochlorine pollutants in fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) from the Faroe Islands

et al. 2005

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The observed high-level burdens of organohalogens among the residents of the Faroe Islands, needs to be explained. Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) blubber and meat are known sources of environmental exposure. The present study focus on the organohalogen contamination of the fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis). The compounds quantified in fulmar muscle, fat, and egg are PCBs, DDTs, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The dominating pollutants are the 4,4'-DDT metabolite 4,4'-DDE and the two PCB congeners, CB-153 and CB-180, which are present in geometric mean concentrations of 7100, 4700 and 2500 ng/g lipid weight (l.w.), respectively, in adult fulmar muscle. 4,4'-DDT and HCB concentrations are approximately 250 ng/g l.w., each. Concentrations in the eggs are about 50% of the fulmar muscle levels, due to differences in lipid amounts, 4% in muscle and 10% in the eggs, the exposure contribution on a fresh weight basis is almost the same. As a result, both the egg and the adult fulmar muscle may lead to a significant exposure risk, if consumed by humans.BDE-153, the most abundant PBDE congener in fulmar muscle, with a geometric mean concentration of 6.5 ng/g l.w., is much lower than the individual PCB congeners and 4,4'-DDE concentrations. In the adult fulmar muscle, the relative PBDE congener pattern is different from that previously observed in biota, with BDE-153 and BDE-154 as the dominating congeners, rather than BDE-47. In contrast, BDE-47 is the most abundant congener in juvenile muscle and subcutaneous fat. The ΣPBDE concentrations are almost the same in egg, muscle (adult and juvenile) and subcutaneous fat (juvenile). For the polybrominated biphenyl (BB-153) the concentrations are considerably higher in the adult bird and egg than in the juvenile bird; this is also seen for the PCB and 4,4'-DDE concentrations.PCB concentrations found in fulmar egg and muscle are in the same range as seen in the pilot whale, i.e. 590-5700 ng/g l.w. for CB-153. Hence humans are also exposed to PCBs at a reasonable degree via intake of fulmar and/or fulmar egg and not only via pilot whale blubber.

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“…A strength of the present study is that our results were based on prospective birth cohorts in the Faroe Islands, where high participation rates and minimal problems with selection bias or confounding from socioeconomic factors have been documented [17]. To our knowledge, our study is the largest one so far assessing the association of directly measured mercury, ΣPCB and DDE with the secondary sex ratio.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Faroe Islands is a marine community located in the North Atlantic, where the traditional diet holds a high content of marine food that includes whale meat and blubber, thereby exposing the Faroese to high concentrations of environmental chemicals [17–19]. In recent decades, the serum-concentrations of environmental chemicals have decreased in pregnant women, perhaps, in part, due to public advisories about high-risk foods [19].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Secondary sex ratio in relation to exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene and methylmercury

Timmermann¹,

Choi

Petersen

et al. 2017

International Journal of Circumpolar Health

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This study was undertaken to assess the potential impact of maternal exposures to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (DDE) and methylmercury on the secondary sex ratios (the ratio of male to female live births) over a span of 23 years. The study includes prospective data from three Faroese birth cohorts, with a total of 2,152 healthy mother–child dyads recruited between 1986 and 2009. The Faroe Islands is a subarctic fishing community, where pilot whale meat and blubber are part of the traditional marine diet. Exposures were measured in maternal hair, serum or umbilical cord blood. Confounder adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between maternal exposures and the secondary sex ratio. A doubling in ΣPCB, p,p’-DDE and mercury concentrations were associated with increased odds by 8% (95% CI = 0–16%), 7% (95% CI = 0–14%) and 9% (95% CI = 2–17%), respectively, of giving birth to a boy. In conclusion, maternal exposure to ΣPCB, DDE and methylmercury was associated with a slightly increased secondary sex ratio. The impact of paternal exposures could not be taken into account and deserves attention.

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Relation of a Seafood Diet to Mercury, Selenium, Arsenic, and Polychlorinated Biphenyl and Other Organochlorine Concentrations in Human Milk

Cited by 174 publications

References 0 publications

Effects of breast feeding on neuropsychological development in a community with methylmercury exposure from seafood

Effects of breast feeding on neuropsychological development in a community with methylmercury exposure from seafood

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and traditional organochlorine pollutants in fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) from the Faroe Islands

Secondary sex ratio in relation to exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene and methylmercury

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