Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Bioaccumulative Hydroxylated PBDE Metabolites in Young Humans from Managua, Nicaragua

TLDR

The study aimed to assess PBDE exposure in young urban Nicaraguan children, especially informal scrap scavengers at a municipal waste site, and to determine whether hydroxylated PBDE metabolites accumulate in human serum. Serum samples from 11‑15‑year‑old children (working and nonworking) and women were analyzed by GC/MS for PBDEs and methoxylated hydroxylated metabolites, with fish consumption effects evaluated. Children at the waste site exhibited very high medium‑brominated PBDE levels and corresponding hydroxylated metabolites, with dust identified as the main source, and these concentrations matched US levels, marking the first evidence of bioaccumulation of hydroxylated PBDEs in humans.

Abstract

Our aim was to investigate exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in a young urban population in a developing country, with focus on potentially highly exposed children working informally as scrap scavengers at a large municipal waste disposal site. We also set out to investigate whether hydroxylated metabolites, which not hitherto have been found retained in humans, could be detected.We assessed PBDEs in pooled serum samples obtained in 2002 from children 11-15 years of age, working and sometimes also living at the municipal waste disposal site in Managua, and in nonworking urban children. The influence of fish consumption was evaluated in the children and in groups of women 15-44 years of age who differed markedly in their fish consumption. Hydroxylated PBDEs were assessed as their methoxylated derivates. The chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, using authentic reference substances.The children living and working at the waste disposal site showed very high levels of medium brominated diphenyl ethers. The levels observed in the referent children were comparable to contemporary observations in the United States. The exposure pattern was consistent with dust being the dominating source. The children with the highest PBDE levels also had the highest levels of hydroxylated metabolites.Unexpectedly, very high levels of PBDEs were found in children from an urban area in a developing country. Also, for the first time, hydroxylated PBDE metabolites were found to bioaccumulate in human serum.