Chemicals Found in Breastmilk May Cause an Unfortunate Cease of Breastfeeding

A new study reveals that most women would. Published in Breastfeeding Medicine the study is entitled Reporting Individual Test Results of Environmental Chemicals in Breastmilk: Potential for Premature Weaning. It was written by University of Cincinnati researchers Sheela R. Geraghty, Jane C. Khoury, Ardythe L. Morrow and Bruce P. Lanphear.

Previous research shows that breastfeeding can be healthy for babies and encourages development, yet the effects of chemicals on a child’s growth are not fully known. The study was undertaken in order to understand the impact that knowledge, which may not always be complete, of chemicals in a women’s body would impact her activities, specifically if she would continue to breastfeed.

Of the 381 women interviewed in the study, 68% stated that they would want to know if there were chemicals in their breastmilk. 78% of women who were breastfeeding at the time said that they would end earlier than they had intended if they were told that they had even low levels of a chemical presence. In this case, researchers used phthalates as an example, a chemical found in many plastics, that has an unknown effect on the human body. Researchers wanted start a debate over whether it is advisable to inform women of the level of chemicals in their milk, even though their effects are unknown, since it may cause an end to the benefits of breastfeeding for their child.

This is an important topic to bring up because with the knowledge we have now, it appears that regardless of a level of chemical contamination in the milk, breastfeeding is still the supperior method of feeding babies, for it is the natural way and contains far more benifits than negatives. An article published in Enviromental Health journal by the HEAL partner Initiativ Liewensufank This article entitled “Communicating human biomonitoring results to ensure policy coherence with public health recommendations: analyzing breastmilk whilst protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding” states that babies who are breastfed develop better neurologically, have more effective immune systems, and are less likely to develop many types of diseases than their counterparts who are fed formula. Therefore, while there are some negative effects associated with the chemicals found it breastmilk, these effects are negated by the benifits of breastfeeding.

Read More:

• FAQ on Environment and Breastfeeding available in English, German, French
• Protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in Europe: a blueprint for action
• Chemicals Health Monitor - Section on Human Biomonitoring
• Initiativ Liewensufank paper on breastmilk biomonitoring published in the Environmental Health Journal
• Invisible burden - Good reasons to get rid of PBT chemicals - It gives an overview of why PBT chemicals are a cause of concern, what EU decision makers should do and how consumers can reduce their exposure. This release comes at a critical time when the EU is currently reviewing the criteria for these so-called (PBT) chemicals within the EU chemicals law, REACH.