Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Mar;116(3):400-8.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.10713.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and bioaccumulative hydroxylated PBDE metabolites in young humans from Managua, Nicaragua

Maria Athanasiadou  1 , Steven N Cuadra, Göran Marsh, Ake Bergman, Kristina Jakobsson
Affiliations

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and bioaccumulative hydroxylated PBDE metabolites in young humans from Managua, Nicaragua

Maria Athanasiadou et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Our aim was to investigate exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in a young urban population in a developing country, with focus on potentially highly exposed children working informally as scrap scavengers at a large municipal waste disposal site. We also set out to investigate whether hydroxylated metabolites, which not hitherto have been found retained in humans, could be detected.

Methods: We assessed PBDEs in pooled serum samples obtained in 2002 from children 11-15 years of age, working and sometimes also living at the municipal waste disposal site in Managua, and in nonworking urban children. The influence of fish consumption was evaluated in the children and in groups of women 15-44 years of age who differed markedly in their fish consumption. Hydroxylated PBDEs were assessed as their methoxylated derivates. The chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, using authentic reference substances.

Results: The children living and working at the waste disposal site showed very high levels of medium brominated diphenyl ethers. The levels observed in the referent children were comparable to contemporary observations in the United States. The exposure pattern was consistent with dust being the dominating source. The children with the highest PBDE levels also had the highest levels of hydroxylated metabolites.

Conclusions: Unexpectedly, very high levels of PBDEs were found in children from an urban area in a developing country. Also, for the first time, hydroxylated PBDE metabolites were found to bioaccumulate in human serum.

Keywords: BFRs; OH-PBDEs; brominated flame retardants; children; fish consumption; human exposure; inhalation; metabolism; waste disposal site.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of the Managua area, Nicaragua. The locations of Mateare, San Francisco Libre, urban Managua, and the waste disposal site “La Chureca” are shown.
Figure 2
Figure 2
GC/MS (ECNI) chromatogram of PBDEs in serum from children working and living on a waste disposal site in Managua, Nicaragua. I.S., internal standard. The identified PBDE congeners are shown by their abbreviated compound numbers. The instrument was set to trace bromide ions (m/z 79/81).
Figure 3
Figure 3
GC/MS (ECNI) chromatogram of phenolic polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs) in serum from children working and living on a waste disposal site in Managua, Nicaragua. I.S., internal standard. The identified and the unidentified OH-PBDEs are shown by compound abbreviations and asterisks, respectively. The instrument was set to trace bromide ions (m/z 79/81).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Serum levels of BDE-47 (pmol/g l.w.) in different regions. Data are from: 1: Thomsen et al. (2007); 2: Thomas et al. (2006); 3: Fängström et al. (2005); 4: Covaci and Voorspoels (2005); 5: Harrad and Porter (2007); 6: Inoue et al. (2006); 7: Kim et al. (2005); 8: Bradman et al. (2007); 9: Schecter et al. (2005b); 10: Lopez et al. (2004). For comparison, reported concentrations were transformed into serum concentrations in pmol/g l.w. when needed. &Xmacr; = mean; X̃= median; GM, geometric mean; GSD, standard deviation of GM; WDS, waste disposal site.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Serum levels of BDE-153 (pmol/g l.w.) in different regions. Data are from: 1: Thomsen et al. (2007); 2: Thomas et al. (2006); 3: Fängström et al. (2005); 4: Covaci and Voorspoels (2005); 5: Harrad and Porter (2007); 6: Inoue et al. (2006); 7: Kim et al. (2005); 8: Bradman et al. (2007); 9: Schecter et al. (2005b); 10: Lopez et al. (2004). For comparison, reported concentrations were transformed into serum concentrations in pmol/g l.w. when needed. X̄= mean; &Xtilde; = median; GM, geometric mean; GSD, standard deviation of GM; WDS, waste disposal site.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Serum levels of BDE-209 (pmol/g l.w.) in different regions. Data are from: 1: Thomsen et al. (2007); 2: Thuresson et al. (2005); 3: Thomas et al. (2006); 4: Fängström et al. (2005); 5: Covaci and Voorspoels (2005); 6: Inoue et al. (2006); 7: Schecter et al. (2005b); 8: Lopez et al. (2004). For comparison, reported concentrations were transformed into serum concentration in pmol/g l.w. when needed. X̄= mean; &Xtilde; = median; GM, geometric mean; GSD, standard deviation of GM; nd, nondetectable; WDS, waste disposal site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Alaee M, Arias P, Sjödin A, Bergman Å. An overview of commercially used brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and their applications, changes in their use pattern in different countries/regions over time and possible modes of release. Environ Int. 2003;29:683–689. - PubMed
    1. Athanasiadou M, Marsh G, Athanassiadis I, Asplund L, Bergman Å. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry of methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) J Mass Spectrom. 2006;41:790–801. - PubMed
    1. Ballschmiter K, Mennel A, Buyten J. Long chain alkyl-polysiloxanes as non-polar stationary phases in capillary gas chromatography. Fresenius J Anal Chem. 1993;346:396–402.
    1. Bergman Å. The abysmal failure of preventing human and environmental exposure to persistent brominated flame retardants: a brief historical reveiw. In: Alaee M, Reiner E, Clement R, editors. Commemorating 25 Years of Dioxin Symposia. Toronto: Dioxin 2005 Symposium; 2005. pp. 32–40.
    1. Bi X, Qu W, Sheng G, Zhang W, Mai B, Chen D, et al. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in South China maternal and fetal blood and breast milk. Environ Pollut. 2006;144:1024–1030. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-