Folic acid (FA) supplementation is recommended for all women of childbearing age and pregnant women. Still, women’s adherence to these recommendations is often low. This crosssectional survey aimed to assess FA supplementation among pregnant women in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) since no such data exist to date. Data were collected by a voluntary, anonymous, self-administered internet-based questionnaire. The inclusion criteria were current pregnancy, BiH origin, and BiH residence for at least the past 5 years. The vast majority (82.1%) of women reported inadequate periconceptional FA supplementation, and only 26.9% reported supplementation during the critical period for neural tube closure. The use of a high dose (≥5 mg/day) FA beyond the first trimester was reported by 9.0% of women. Women’s age was significantly associated with adequate folic acid use for the prevention of neural tube defects (OR=1.207, p<0.05). The periconceptional FA supplementation in the studied population is suboptimal. These preliminary data call for action, especially because BiH is a lower-middleincome country without mandatory FA food fortification program. Further research on folate dietary intake and folate status in the target group, as well as possible predictors of the low prevalence of supplementation, is recommended.

In this work, both farm milk samples (n=3), as well as samples of milk from Bosnia and Herzegovina market (n=7), were analyzed to quantify the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls. The PCB content (as Aroclor 1254) was determined in the fat extracts using the PCB ELISA kit, according to the procedure provided by the manufacturer. The total PCB concentrations (as Aroclor 1254) in individual milk sample ranged from <LoD to 787.74 μg/kg lipid weight (l.w.). The calculated Ʃ6PCB were ranged from <LoD to 187.72 μg/kg l.w. In one out of ten analyzed samples the presence of PCB higher than maximum limit (ML) was found. However, the absorbance measured for this sample is out of the linear range. In this case the sample can be considered as a suspect and should be analyzed with the quantitative confirmatory method. In other milk samples the concentration of PCB was in the acceptable range, and far below the ML.