Health risk assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in baby clothes

Author, as appears in the article.: Herrero, Marta; Gonzalez, Neus; Rovira, Joaquim; Marques, Montse; Domingo, Jose L; Abalos, Manuela; Abad, Esteban; Nadal, Marti

Department: Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques

URV's Author/s: Domingo Roig, José Luis / Gonzalez Paradell, Nieves / Marquès Bueno, Montserrat / Nadal Lomas, Martí / Rovira Solano, Joaquim

Keywords: Textile; Tarragona county catalonia; Risk assessment; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Organic cotton; Infant; Humans; Human health risks; Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; Food contamination; Dioxins; Dibenzofurans, polychlorinated; Dermal absorption; Clothing; Child; Benzofurans; textiles; textile; pcdd/fs; organic cotton; inhalation; human health risks; human exposure; flame retardants; dioxin; dietary-intake; dermal absorption; contact; chemicals

Abstract: Clothes may contain a large range of chemical additives and other toxic substances, which may eventually pose a significant risk to human health. Since they are associated with pigments, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be especially relevant. On the other hand, infants are very sensitive to chemical exposure and they may wear some contact and colored textiles for a prolonged time. Consequently, a specific human health risk assessment is required. This preliminary study was aimed at analyzing the concentrations of PCBs in ten bodysuits purchased in on-line stores and local retailers. The concentrations of 12 dioxin-like and 8 non-dioxin-like PCB congeners were determined by gas chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry, with detection limits ranging between 0.01 and 0.13 pg/g. The dermal absorption to PCBs of children at different ages (6 months, 1 year and 3 years old) was estimated, and the non-cancer and cancer risks were evaluated. Total levels of PCBs ranged from 74.2 to 412 pg/g, with a mean TEQ concentration of 13.4 pg WHO-TEQ/kg. Bodysuits made of organic cotton presented a total mean PCB concentration substantially lower than clothes made of regular cotton (11.0 vs. 15.8 pg WHO-TEQ/kg). The dermal absorption to PCBs for infants was calculated in around 3.10(-5) pg WHO-TEQ/kg.day, regardless the age. This value is > 10,000-fold lower than the dietary intake of PCBs, either through breastfeeding or food consumption. Furthermore, this exposure value would not pose any health risks for the infants wearing those bodysuits. Anyhow, as it is a very preliminary study, this should be confirmed by analyzing larger sets of textile samples. Further investigations should be also focused on the co-occurrence of PCBs and other toxic chemicals (i.e., formaldehyde, bisphenols and aromatic amines) in infant clothes.

Thematic Areas: Zootecnia / recursos pesqueiros; Toxicology; Saúde coletiva; Química; Pollution; Nutrição; Medicine (miscellaneous); Medicina ii; Medicina i; Matemática / probabilidade e estatística; Interdisciplinar; Health, toxicology and mutagenesis; Geografía; Geociências; General medicine; Farmacia; Environmental sciences; Ensino; Engenharias iii; Engenharias ii; Engenharias i; Ciências biológicas iii; Ciências biológicas ii; Ciências biológicas i; Ciências ambientais; Ciências agrárias i; Ciência de alimentos; Biotecnología; Biodiversidade; Arquitetura e urbanismo

licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/

Author's mail: montserrat.marques@urv.cat; joaquim.rovira@urv.cat; joseluis.domingo@urv.cat; marti.nadal@urv.cat

Record's date: 2025-03-15

Paper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Link to the original source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749122007205?via%3Dihub

Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/

Paper original source: Environmental Pollution. 307 119506-119506

APA: Herrero, Marta; Gonzalez, Neus; Rovira, Joaquim; Marques, Montse; Domingo, Jose L; Abalos, Manuela; Abad, Esteban; Nadal, Marti (2022). Health risk assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in baby clothes. Environmental Pollution, 307(), 119506-119506. DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119506

Article's DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119506

Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Journal publication year: 2022

Publication Type: Journal Publications