Mineral oil paraffins in human body fat and milk
- PMID: 17923223
- DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2007.08.036
Mineral oil paraffins in human body fat and milk
Abstract
Paraffins of mineral oil origin (mineral paraffins) were analyzed in tissue fat collected from 144 volunteers with Caesarean sections as well as in milk fat from days 4 and 20 after birth of the same women living in Austria. In the tissue samples, the composition of the mineral paraffins was largely identical and consisted of an unresolved mixture of iso- and cycloalkanes, in gas chromatographic retention times ranging from n-C(17) to n-C(32) and centered at n-C(23)/C(24). Since the mineral oil products we are exposed to range from much smaller to much higher molecular mass and may contain prominent n-alkanes, the contaminants in the tissue fat must be a residue from selective uptake, elimination by evaporation and metabolic degradation. Concentrations varied between 15 and 360 mg/kg fat, with an average of 60.7 mg/kg and a median of 52.5 mg/kg. Mineral paraffins might be the largest contaminant of our body, widely amounting to 1g per person and reaching 10 g in extreme cases. If food were the main source, exposure data would suggest the mineral paraffins being accumulated over many years or even lifetime. The milk samples of day 4 contained virtually the same mixture of mineral paraffins as the tissue fat at concentrations between 10 and 355 mg/kg (average, 44.6 mg/kg; median, 30 mg/kg). The fats from the day 20 milks contained <5-285 mg/kg mineral paraffins (average, 21.7; median, 10mg/kg), whereby almost all elevated concentrations were linked with a modified composition, suggesting a new source, such as the use of breast salves. The contamination of the milk fat with mineral paraffins seems to decrease more rapidly than for other organic contaminants, and the transfer of mineral paraffins to the baby amounts to only around 1% of that in the body of the mother.
Similar articles
-
Evidence for cosmetics as a source of mineral oil contamination in women.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Nov;20(11):1713-9. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2011.2829. Epub 2011 Oct 4. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011. PMID: 21970597
-
Activated aluminum oxide selectively retaining long chain n-alkanes: Part II. Integration into an on-line high performance liquid chromatography-liquid chromatography-gas chromatography-flame ionization detection method to remove plant paraffins for the determination of mineral paraffins in foods and environmental samples.Anal Chim Acta. 2009 Feb 16;634(1):102-9. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2008.12.011. Epub 2008 Dec 13. Anal Chim Acta. 2009. PMID: 19154817
-
Safety and nutritional assessment of GM plants and derived food and feed: the role of animal feeding trials.Food Chem Toxicol. 2008 Mar;46 Suppl 1:S2-70. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2008.02.008. Epub 2008 Feb 13. Food Chem Toxicol. 2008. PMID: 18328408 Review.
-
Environmental chemicals: from the environment to food, to breast milk, to the infant.J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2007 Dec;10(8):597-609. doi: 10.1080/10937400701389891. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2007. PMID: 18049925 Review.
-
Relative hopane content confirming the mineral origin of hydrocarbons contaminating foods and human milk.Food Addit Contam. 2004 Sep;21(9):893-904. doi: 10.1080/02652030400001164. Food Addit Contam. 2004. PMID: 15666983
Cited by
-
Update of the risk assessment of mineral oil hydrocarbons in food.EFSA J. 2023 Sep 13;21(9):e08215. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215. eCollection 2023 Sep. EFSA J. 2023. PMID: 37711880 Free PMC article.
-
In-situ oligomerization of lactic acid within broiler skin extracted elastin/collagen matrix for the efficacy of ointment base.Heliyon. 2022 Aug 28;8(8):e10346. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10346. eCollection 2022 Aug. Heliyon. 2022. PMID: 36082335 Free PMC article.
-
Ecological and Health Effects of Lubricant Oils Emitted into the Environment.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Aug 20;16(16):3002. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16163002. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019. PMID: 31434340 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Optical clearing for luminal organ imaging with ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography.J Biomed Opt. 2016 Aug;21(8):081211. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.21.8.081211. J Biomed Opt. 2016. PMID: 27335154 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources