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National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby. Chemical Pollution and Mother's Milk. Chemicals: Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Other MetalsNational Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
"In general, the metals found in breast milk are usually at lower levels than are found in maternal blood. Thus, breast milk is not the primary pathway of exposure for infants; prenatal trans-placental exposure is a much greater concern. That said, instances of high exposure through breast milk do occur, and are often important indicators of an infant's total exposure. Generally, infants fed formula made with tap water are at the highest risk from metals contaminating the water supply."
"Much of the lead in breast milk does not come from the mothers' exposure during lactation. Instead, it comes from lead stored in the mothers' bones. Because lead mimics the beneficial mineral calcium, it is stored for decades along with calcium in the bones. During pregnancy and lactation, a woman's body extracts calcium from her own bones to provide calcium for her child's bone development. Calcium extraction from bone is greatest during lactation, and as a result, lead stored in the mother's bones also enters the blood and breast milk during pregnancy and lactation, posing an exposure risk to the fetus. Fortunately, sufficient calcium intake during pregnancy and lactation significantly reduces the extraction of lead from the mother's bones. Thus women can significantly reduce their fetus' exposure to lead by getting adequate calcium during pregnancy and lactation, or by taking a calcium supplement."
"Breast-milk levels of mercury are usually lower than levels of lead. Mercury does not accumulate in breast milk; in fact, the levels in the mother's blood are generally about three times higher than the levels in milk. Therefore, prenatal exposure is probably more important than lactational exposure to mercury, in most cases. Two major forms of mercury can enter breast milk. The most hazardous, methyl mercury, does not enter breast milk at high rates because it is attached to red blood cells. But what little does get into breast milk is easily absorbed in the intestine of a nursing infant. The second form, inorganic mercury, enters breast milk easily but is not well absorbed in the infant's gastrointestinal system."
"Cadmium levels in breast milk are significantly associated with cigarette smoking."
Chemicals in Mother's MilkNational Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
"Pound for pound, children eat more, drink more and breathe more than adults. For example, a bottle-fed infant consumes relatively huge amounts of water each day -- when corrected for body weight, it's as if an adult were to drink seven liters of water or 35 cans of soda each day. So if chemical contaminants are in that water, the infant's exposure to them is disproportionately high. The consumption of breast milk is similarly large, making contaminants in breast milk and infant formula a particular concern to public health advocates. Among the chemicals that can invade breast milk, and that are the subject of these pages, are a number of members of the organochlorine class, including: chlordane; DDT; dieldrin, aldrin and endrin; hexachlorobenzene; hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) heptachlor; mirex; toxaphene; dioxins and furans; PBDEs; and PCBs. Several substances that are not persistent organochlorines but that nevertheless threaten the purity of breast milk are covered on these pages as well, including: nitro musks and musk xylenes; lead, mercury, cadmium and other metals; and solvents."
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