Abstract
The organochlorine environmental pollutants such as dioxins transfer to infants through mother’s milk. In the study we used less toxic hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and examined the effects of dietary lipid level on the distribution and transfer of HCB from dams to suckling pups. In pregnant rats fed with high-fat diet, the amount of HCB accumulated in fat tissues was slightly higher compared with the control diet and the low-fat diet groups. In all groups, a large proportion of HCB in the dams disappeared during lactation period and was transferred to their pups through the milk. In the pups of the high-fat diet group, the amount of HCB in stomach contents was lower immediately until 10 day after birth compared with those of the control and the low-fats diets. These results showed a high-fat diet reduced the speed of the transfer of HCB from the dams to suckling pups through milk.
