Determination of Perfluorinated Compounds in Human Milk and Evaluation of Their Transition from Maternal Plasma

Abstract

In this study, we focused our attention on breast fluid as specific perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) as an exposure source to infants, and developed a highly sensitive and accurate analytical method using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). For sample pretreatment, samples were determined using weak anion exchange (WAX) and solid phase extraction (SPE). The average recoveries of the analytes were in the range 94.3∼109.0% (RSD <10.3%), and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) were determined to be 0.012 ng/mL for PFOA and 0.004 ng/mL for PFOS, PFHxS and PFNA, respectively. Relatively high levels of PFCs were detected from human milk, which ranged over 0.046∼0.098 ng/mL for PFOS and over 0.016∼0.270 ng/mL for PFOA. In addition, human milk and maternal plasma collected from the same donor were analyzed. As a result, the concentration of PFCs in human milk and maternal plasma showed significant correlations for PFOS (r = 0.78) and PFOA (r = 0.82).