Infant exposure assessment for breast milk dioxins and furans derived from waste incineration emissions
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have been detected in human milk samples obtained in several countries. Possible sources include emissions from incineration of municipal waste in resource recovery facilities. A formula is presented for calculating the infant daily dose of dioxin equivalents from breast milk on the basis of the maternal daily intake. Application of the formula suggests that an infant breast-fed for 12 months would receive around 10% of the cumulative exposure dose per body weight that would be received by an adult with 50 years of exposure. Further analysis indicated that the contribution of dioxin equivalents from breast milk to an infant's body concentration at the end of 12 months of breast feeding would amount to 1.7 times the concentration in the mother. However, dioxin and furan emissions from a source calculated to result in worst-case lifetime cancer risks of the order of 1 in 100,000 are only likely to increase breast milk concentrations by around 1%-10% of the levels that have been detected in several countries. This finding suggests that there are major sources of dioxins and furans other than from municipal solid waste incineration that need to be identified.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Berkeley
- OSTI ID:
- 5649356
- Journal Information:
- Risk Anal.; (United States), Vol. 7:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BENZOFURANS
MEMBRANE TRANSPORT
RISK ASSESSMENT
DIOXIN
MILK
CONTAMINATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
INFANTS
MUNICIPAL WASTES
AGE GROUPS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BODY FLUIDS
CHILDREN
FOOD
FURANS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
WASTES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology