Phthalate Exposure Pattern in Breast Milk within a Six-Month Postpartum Time in Southern Taiwan

Shen-Che Hung, Ting-I Lin, Jau-Ling Suen, Hsien-Kuan Liu, Pei-Ling Wu, Chien-Yi Wu, Yu-Chen S. H. Yang, San-Nan Yang and Yung-Ning Yang
Additional contact information
Shen-Che Hung: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Ting-I Lin: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Jau-Ling Suen: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
Hsien-Kuan Liu: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Pei-Ling Wu: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Chien-Yi Wu: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Yu-Chen S. H. Yang: Joint Biobank, Office of Human Research, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
San-Nan Yang: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan
Yung-Ning Yang: Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a common plasticizer, has been detected in breast milk in many countries; however, whether phthalate metabolite concentration and the detection rate in breast milk change postpartum is still unknown. We measured phthalate metabolite concentrations in breast milk in the first 6 months postpartum in women enrolled in the E-Da hospital from January to July 2017. A total of 56 breastfeeding mothers and 66 samples were included in this study. We analyzed the samples’ concentration of eight phthalate metabolites using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. The concentration of mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) was significantly higher in the first month, and then decreased over time. The detection rate of ono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP) and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP) was low in the first month and then increased over time. Compared with a previous study published in 2011, the levels of MEHP and MiBP in breast milk were much lower in the present study, suggesting an increased awareness of the health risks of phthalate exposure after a food scandal occurred in Taiwan. This study provides information for evaluating newborns’ exposure to different kinds of phthalate through human milk in the postpartum period.

Keywords: environmental endocrine disruptor; breast milk; di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5726/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5726/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5726-:d:562881

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().