Discussion: Using temporal trends of BDE-47 and PCB-153 in breast milk data, we show which
information can be gained from the time-trend data. To this end, we analyzed time trends of hypothetical
POPs for different periods with time-variant exposure and different intrinsic elimination
half-lives, using a dynamic population-based pharmacokinetic model. Different pieces of information
can be extracted from time-trend data from different periods. The analysis of trends of shortlived
POPs is rather straightforward and facilitates extraction of the intrinsic elimination half-lives
from the breast milk data. However, trends of slowly eliminated POPs only provide indications for
the exposure time trend.
Citation: Gyalpo T, Scheringer M, Hungerbühler K. 2016. Recommendations for evaluating
temporal trends of persistent organic pollutants in breast milk. Environ Health Perspect
124:881–885; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510219