Objective To measure the body burdens of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in newborns in Harbin and discuss the risk factors of PAHs exposure.

Methods Two hundred paired mother-newborns were enrolled randomly from a hospital in Harbin and information was collected through questionnaires from April to September 2013. Eighteen kinds of PAHs in umbilical cord blood were detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. The risk factors of PAHs exposure in newborns were assessed by Spearman rank correlation analysis.

Results The eighteen PAHs were detected in umbilical cord blood samples of selected newborns, including seven carcinogenic PAHs. Except that the detection rates of benzoa anthracene and chrysene were 63% and 74% in umbilical cord blood, those of other five carcinogenic PAHs were higher than 80%. The sum of concentrations of the seven carcinogenic PAHs in the newborns from urban area (median, 13.90 μg/L; P25-P75, 4.87-20.12 μg/L) was higher than in those from suburban area (median, 7.01 μg/L; P25-P75, 2.39-14.00 μg/L) (P < 0.05). According to Spearman rank correlation analysis, higher concentrations of four kinds of non-carcinogenic (naphthalene, phenanthrene, anthracene, and fluoranthene) and five kinds of carcinogenic PAHs (chrysene, benzoa anthracene, benzoa pyrene, dibenza, h anthracen, and indeno1, 2, 3-cd pyrene) in umbilical cord blood were associated with living in urban, living near a main road, passive smoking during pregnancy, and consumption of food with high-level PAHs (P < 0.05).

Conclusion Carcinogenic PAHs are detected in the umbilical cord blood of newborns in Harbin. The risk factors for newborns' PAHs exposure are pregnant women living in urban, living near a main road, passive smoking during pregnancy, and consumption of food with high-level PAHs.