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Kim Hooper,¹ Tamara Chuvakova,² Gulnara Kazbekova,³ Douglas Hayward,⁴ Asel Tulenova,⁵ Myrto X. Petreas,¹ Timothy J. Wade,¹ Kathleen Benedict,¹ Ying-Yin Cheng,¹ and Jean Grassman⁶

¹Hazardous Materials Laboratory, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, California, USA
²Physicians Institute of Postgraduate Training, Kazakhstan Ministry of Health, Almaty, Kazakhstan
³Kazakhstan Ministry of Health, Almaty, Kazakhstan
⁴Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC, USA
⁵United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Astana, Kazakhstan
⁶National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

High levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD ; up to 208 pg/g fat) were measured in samples of breast milk collected in 1997 from 64 donors [41 first-time mothers (primiparae) ] living on state farms in southern Kazakhstan. TCDD was the major contributor (70%) to the toxic equivalents, matching the congener patterns found in breast milk and serum samples collected in 1994 and 1996 from donors in nearby villages. The highest TCDD levels were found in state farms adjacent to a reservoir (zone A) , which receives agricultural runoff from cotton fields. TCDD levels in zone A were significantly higher than levels in a region more distant (zone B ; > 10 miles) from the reservoir (zone A: mean 53 pg/g, n = 17 ; zone B: mean 21 pg/g, n = 24 ; p = 0.0017) . Levels of TCDD in breast milk and animal-derived foodstuffs were 10 times U.S. levels. Body burden and dietary data suggest that exposures to TCDD are chronic, environmental, and long term and may be related to the use of chemicals in cotton agriculture. The data suggest that the most likely source is the use of cotton defoliants contaminated with TCDD, and the most likely pathway for human exposure is via the consumption of contaminated foodstuffs. Key words: breast milk, coplanar PCBs, dioxins, exposure assessment, furans, Kazakhstan, TCDD. Environ Health Perspect 107:447-457 (1999) . [Online 26 April 1999]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p447-457hooper/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to K. Hooper, Hazardous Materials Laboratory, California Environmental Protection Agency, 2151 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 USA. Telephone: (510) 540-3499. Fax: (510) 540-2305. E-mail: kim_hooper@hotmail.com

We express our appreciation to the women of Kazakhstan who volunteered for this study, as well as to the health professionals who assisted in recruitment, interviewing, and sample collection, especially A. Mamaikov. We also express our appreciation for the technical assistance received from G. Lucier, D. Patterson, and W. Turner.

This study was funded in part by the Trout Farm Ltd. and by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Received 19 October 1998 ; accepted 25 January 1999.