Environ. Sci. Technol. 2010, 44, 813–819
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Umbilical Cord Blood and Relevant Factors in Neonates from Guiyu, China K U S H E N G W U , ‡,§ X I J I N X U , ‡,| JUNXIAO LIU,‡ YONGYONG GUO,‡ Y A N L I , ‡ A N D X I A H U O * ,‡ Analytic Cytology Laboratory, Department of Preventive Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
Received August 11, 2009. Revised manuscript received October 31, 2009. Accepted November 29, 2009.
We aimed to evaluate the exposure of neonates to polybrominateddiphenylethers(PBDEs)fromaprimitivee-waste(obsolete electrical and electronic devices) recycling area, in Guiyu, China, and a control area, Chaonan, China, through umbilical cord blood (UCB), the health effects, and relevant factors. Questionnaires were addressed, and UCB was collected shortly after birth from 153 pregnant women between May and July 2007. Blood samples were prepared by liquid-liquid extracting methods. PBDE concentration was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the electron capture negative ionization mode. The total PBDE concentration was higher in UCB samples from Guiyu than in Chaonan samples (median 13.84, range 1.14-504.97 ng g-1 lipid, vs 5.23, range 0.29-363.70 ng g-1 lipid) (p < 0.05). BDE-209 was the dominant PBDE congener, followed by BDE-47, -153, and -99. Residence in Guiyu, which is a site for e-waste recycling, involvment in e-waste recycling, and the residence also being used as a family workshop were significant factors contributing to PBDE exposure. PBDE levels significantly differed in neonates by normal birth and adverse birth outcomes including stillbirth, low birth weight, and premature delivery (p < 0.05). The neonates from Guiyu are exposed to high levels of PBDEs. Prenatal exposure to PBDEs may affect neonates’ health in Guiyu, which still needs to be evaluated in larger epidemiological studies.
Introduction Expansion of the global market for electrical and electronic products continues to accelerate, and the rapid technologic development, decrease in prices, and the growth of Internet use has decreased the lifespan of the products, which has resulted in a corresponding explosion in electronic scrap. This situation creates a large volume of obsolete electrical and electronic devices, termed e-waste, which if not properly handled can be a source of pollutants posing a risk to the environment and humans. * Corresponding author phone: 86-754-88900307; fax: 86-75488566774; e-mail:
[email protected]; mailing address: Analytic Cytology Laboratory, Shantou University Medical College, 22 Xinling Rd., Shantou 515041, Guangdong, P.R. China. ‡ Analytic Cytology Laboratory. § Department of Preventive Medicine. | Department of Cell Biology. 10.1021/es9024518
2010 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 12/15/2009
Many countries have to deal with this toxic garbage. In developed countries, e-waste recycling plants are built under controlled conditions. However, because the process is costly, many developed countries export their e-waste to developing countries, where labor costs are cheap and occupational and environmental standards are lax or nonexistent (1). Guiyu, Shantou, China (Figure 1), is one of the largest e-waste destinations and recycling areas in the world. Within a total area of 5200 ha and local population of 139 000 (2009), Guiyu has accommodated millions of tons of e-waste from overseas and domestic sources each year. More than 6000 small-scale family-run workshops (nearly 60%∼80% of families in the town) and 160 000 workers without protective measures are involved in the business of e-waste dismantling and recycling, and approximately 1.7 million tons of e-waste are dismantled annually at this site according to a 2007 local government report. E-waste contains many toxic chemicals, such as heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and may create serious pollution during recycling and disposal. These extremely hazardous and dangerous e-waste recycling operations cause heavy pollution of air, water, and soil in Guiyu, which also poses a threat to the health of the local people (2-6). PBDEs are a group of brominated compounds that have been widely used as brominated flame retardants for several decades because they provide long escape times in case of fire, which saves lives and reduces damage from fire. PBDEs are used in plastics for electrical appliances, television sets, and computer circuit boards and casings. PBDEs are additives mixed into polymers and are not chemically bound to the materials; they may be released into the environment by leaching from the surface of the products or by abrasion of PBDE-containing particles (7). Despite their societal benefits, PBDEs seem to pose a threat to the environment and people. PBDEs are commonly found in air, water, fish, birds, marine mammals, food, and people (8, 9), and their concentrations increase with time (9). They are lipophilic compounds and are mainly found absorbed into particulate matter or in fatty tissue. Still, insufficient knowledge exists on the potential adverse effects of PBDEs on public health (10). Human samples such as serum/plasma, milk, and adipose tissue have been used to evaluate the extent of human exposure to PBDE congeners (8). To date, most of these reports are from Europe and North America (11-13); a few reports on PBDEs concentrations in human samples are from Taiwan and mainland China (14-17). However, no studies have reported on PBDE levels in umbilical cord blood (UCB) in e-waste recycling areas and their health effects on neonates in China. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the biological effects and health risks of PBDEs in neonates by comparing the concentration of PBDEs in UCB of neonates from an e-waste recycling area in China, Guiyu, to that in a control area, Chaonan, China, which has no e-waste recycling workshops.
Experimental Section Recruitment of Study Participants. The sampling site is shown in Figure 1. Participants, who were healthy pregnant women, were recruited from hospitals in Guiyu and Chaonan between May and July 2007. The study protocol was approved by the Human Ethical Committee of Shantou University Medical College, China. All participants gave their written informed consent after receiving detailed explanations of the study and potential consequences prior to enrollment. Participants were interviewed by well-trained research nurses VOL. 44, NO. 2, 2010 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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FIGURE 1. Location of the sampling sites. at obstetric clinics during routine prenatal examination. We enrolled 167 participants (108 from Guiyu and 59 from Chaonan), who voluntarily donated UCB after birth. Questionnaire. We administered a questionnaire to collect information on potential routes of exposure to PBDEs, as well as general demographic and health parameters. Participants were interviewed in person, and each questionnaire took approximately 30 min to complete. Questions covered the mother’s age, socioeconomic status (annual household income, education level), general health, residential history, occupational history, whether their job was related to e-waste, the husband’s occupational history, hobbies, average time spent on the road every day, smoking and dietary habits [the frequency and amount of consumption of fish, shellfish, meat, vegetables, preserved eggs (alkaline-treated raw duck eggs, the protein becomes coagulated and soft colloid), dairy products, bean products], tea consumption, alcohol consumption, medical and pregnancy history (number of pregnancies, abortion history, premature delivery, and stillbirth), and type of birth (caesarean or natural). Adverse birth outcomes in this study included premature delivery, low birth weight, and stillbirth. Low birth weight at term was defined as a birth weight 37 weeks’ gestational birth, and premature delivery was defined as
