TY - JOUR
T1 - Excretion of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and AhR activation in breastmilk among firefighters
AU - Jung, Alesia M.
AU - Beitel, Shawn C.
AU - Gutenkunst, Shannon L.
AU - Billheimer, Dean
AU - Jahnke, Sara A.
AU - Littau, Sally R.
AU - White, Mandie
AU - Hoppe-Jones, Christiane
AU - Cherrington, Nathan J.
AU - Burgess, Jefferey L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology.
PY - 2023/4/1
Y1 - 2023/4/1
N2 - Excretion of toxicants accumulated from firefighter exposures through breastmilk represents a potential hazard. We investigated if firefighting exposures could increase the concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation in excreted breastmilk. Firefighters and nonfirefighters collected breastmilk samples prior to any firefighting responses (baseline) and at 2, 8, 24, 48, and 72 h after a structural fire (firefighters only). Five PBDE analytes (BDEs 15, 28, 47, 99, and 153) detected in at least 90% of samples were summed for analyses. The AhR in vitro DR CALUX bioassay assessed the mixture of dioxin-like compounds and toxicity from breastmilk extracts. Baseline PBDEs and AhR responses were compared between firefighters and nonfirefighters. Separate linear mixed models assessed changes in sum of PBDEs and AhR response among firefighters over time and effect modification by interior or exterior response was assessed. Baseline PBDE concentrations and AhR responses did not differ between the 21 firefighters and 10 nonfirefighters. There were no significant changes in sum of PBDEs or AhR response among firefighters over time postfire, and no variation by interior or exterior response. Plots of sum of PBDEs and AhR response over time demonstrated individual variation but no consistent pattern. Currently, our novel study results do not support forgoing breastfeeding after a fire exposure. However, given study limitations and the potential hazard of accumulated toxicants from firefighter exposures excreted via breastfeeding, future studies should consider additional contaminants and measures of toxicity by which firefighting may impact maternal and child health.
AB - Excretion of toxicants accumulated from firefighter exposures through breastmilk represents a potential hazard. We investigated if firefighting exposures could increase the concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation in excreted breastmilk. Firefighters and nonfirefighters collected breastmilk samples prior to any firefighting responses (baseline) and at 2, 8, 24, 48, and 72 h after a structural fire (firefighters only). Five PBDE analytes (BDEs 15, 28, 47, 99, and 153) detected in at least 90% of samples were summed for analyses. The AhR in vitro DR CALUX bioassay assessed the mixture of dioxin-like compounds and toxicity from breastmilk extracts. Baseline PBDEs and AhR responses were compared between firefighters and nonfirefighters. Separate linear mixed models assessed changes in sum of PBDEs and AhR response among firefighters over time and effect modification by interior or exterior response was assessed. Baseline PBDE concentrations and AhR responses did not differ between the 21 firefighters and 10 nonfirefighters. There were no significant changes in sum of PBDEs or AhR response among firefighters over time postfire, and no variation by interior or exterior response. Plots of sum of PBDEs and AhR response over time demonstrated individual variation but no consistent pattern. Currently, our novel study results do not support forgoing breastfeeding after a fire exposure. However, given study limitations and the potential hazard of accumulated toxicants from firefighter exposures excreted via breastfeeding, future studies should consider additional contaminants and measures of toxicity by which firefighting may impact maternal and child health.
KW - aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation
KW - child health
KW - firefighters
KW - maternal
KW - occupational exposure
KW - polybrominated diphenyl ethers
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U2 - 10.1093/toxsci/kfad017
DO - 10.1093/toxsci/kfad017
M3 - Article
C2 - 36856729
AN - SCOPUS:85159731021
SN - 1096-6080
VL - 192
SP - 223
EP - 232
JO - Toxicological Sciences
JF - Toxicological Sciences
IS - 2
ER -