Objective: To determinate the present polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) levels in cord blood in order to discuss the PAHs exposure relationships between mother and paired newborns.
Methods: 347 pregnant women joined the study and the information of the 271 paired mother-newborns were used to analysis the exposure relationship. Questionnaire and bio-samples were got during the period of October 2006 to January 2008. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the PAHs (7 kinds) levels in cord blood and maternal blood.
Results: In the 271 paired mother/newborns, several kinds of PAHs were detected in nearly all the serum of the subjects. The serum concentrations of B(k)F, B(a)P and DB(a, h) A in cord blood were significantly higher than those in paired maternal blood. In addition, the serum concentrations of B(b)F in cord blood was higher than that in maternal blood (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: There are several kinds of PAHs detected in the umbilical cord blood and the PAHs levels in cord blood is the same as or even higher than that in the maternal blood, which means that could be is very important to develop the prenatal exposure assessment.