Abstract
Epidemiological study on the transfer of PCB to infants from their mothers was investigated from 1974 to 1976. The following samples were collected and analyzed for PCB: maternal blood and cord blood at delivery, maternal blood, infant blood and breast milk at 3 months after birth, and infant blood at 1 year and 2 years after birth.
The level of PCB in the breast milk was nearly middle level in Japan. The levels of PCB in the cord blood and the maternal blood at 3 months after birth were lower than that in the maternal blood at delivery, significantly. When the cord blood was considered as the infant blood at birth, the level of PCB in the blood of breast fed infants rose gradually with ingestion of breast milk, exceeded the level in the blood of their mothers after 3 months, and tended to increase until 1 year and then significantly decreased at 2 years after birth. However, the level of PCB in the blood of artifically fed infants remained at the low concentration level during the same period.
These results suggested that the amount of PCB from lactation was higher than that from placenta on the transfer of PCB to infants from their mothers.
