Infant exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) via consumption of homemade baby food in Korea

Limited data are available on the residue levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in baby food. In this study, 24 PBDE congeners were determined in 147 homemade baby food samples collected from 97 households for 6-, 9-; 12-, 15-, and from 24 to 27-month-old infant groups during the period of 2012-2013. The concentrations of total PBDEs (Sigma PBDE) ranged from 24.5 to 6000 (mean: 263) pg/g fresh weight, higher than those found in commercial formulae from the United States. The predominant congeners were BDEs 209 and 47, accounting for 92% of the Sigma PBDE concentrations, reflected by high deca-BDE consumption in Korea. The residue levels and detection rates of BDE 47 in the baby food samples showed a gradual increasing trend with an increase in infant ages, due to changes in the food ingredients from hypoallergenic to greasy. The daily intakes of BDEs 47 and 209 via baby food consumption ranged from 0.04 to 0.58, 0.80 to 20.3, and 1.06 to 22.3 ng/kg body weight/day for 6-, 9-, 12-, 15-, and 24-27-month-old infant groups, respectively; these intakes were lower than the oral reference doses proposed by the US EPA. Together with three exposure sources, baby food, breast milk and dust ingestion for 6-month-old infants, the daily intake of Sigma PBDE was 25.5 ng/kg body weight/day, which was similar to the intake via baby food consumption only for over 24-month-old infants in our study. This indicates that baby food is an important exposure pathway of PBDEs for over 24-month-old infants. This is the first study regarding the occurrence and exposure assessment of PBDEs via homemade baby food. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.We would like to express our gratitude to all participating mothers in the CHECK (Children's Health and Environmental Chemicals in Korea) Panel for their great efforts in collecting homemade baby food samples. This study was supported by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA, 12162KFDA732) and the Ministry of Environment of Korea as the Environmental Health Action Program (ARQ201303083). YS Jeong, SG Lee and SM Kim are supported by BK21 Plus program of National Research Foundation