Persistent Organic Pollutant Residues in Human Fetal Liver and Placenta from Greater Montreal, Quebec: A Longitudinal Study from 1998 through 2006

Abstract

Although commercial production of penta- and octa-brominated diphenyl ethers in North America was halted in 2004, their concentrations in fetal liver and placenta are now greater than the tissue burdens for the analyzed OCs and PCBs. Our findings also demonstrate that PBDEs accumulate within the fetal compartment at a very early stage in gestation.