Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Human Breast Milk Collected from Asian Developing Countries: Risk Assessment for Infants

SL 2: Background 1 First of all, I’d like to touch on the background of this study. As you know well, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) representing polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, PCBs, and organochlorine insecticides are lipophilic stable contaminants. They have been detected in a wide range of environmental media and biota, and have been of great concern on their toxic effect on humans and wildlife. In developed countries, comprehensive investigations on the POPs pollution have been documented well, and made clear that environmental residue levels have been decreasing in recent past decades. However, in developing countries, fewer information are available on the pollution of these contaminants, particularly dioxins and related compounds.