Fw: Mother's milk, considered a perfect food, can harbor some pollutants.

[Guest guest]

From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 12:48 AM

Subject: Mother's milk, considered a perfect food, can harbor some

pollutants.

>

> http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/580

>

> June 13, 2001

>

>

> Treaty Would Ban Toxins That Invade Breast Milk

> Run Date: 06/12/01

> By Sharon King Hoge

> WEnews correspondent

> Mother's milk, considered a perfect food, can harbor some pollutants. The

> new global pact aims to reduce these toxins. Meanwhile, experts say moms

> still should breast-feed but also should avoid tobacco smoke, alcohol,

PCBs

> and pesticides.

>

> (WOMENSENEWS)--An international chemical treaty signed last month will

help

> eliminate and phase out some chemical pollutants in the air, water and

> food, contaminants that can build up in the body and work their way into

> nature's first food--mother's milk.

>

> The treaty, known as the Stockholm Convention, does not specifically

> mention breast milk, although the Natural Resources Defense Council said

> that a cleaner environment means a safer and healthier environment for

> everyone, including mothers and the children they nurse. In the United

> States, 64 percent of mothers choose to breast-feed their children.

>

> Todd Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection

> Agency, signed the treaty in Stockholm on May 22. President W.

Bush,

> who announced the United States would reject the Kyoto Climate Change

> Protocol, has said he would sign this treaty after it is ratified by the

> Senate. The treaty was signed by representatives of 120 countries; in

order

> to take effect, it must be ratified by the national assemblies of 50

> countries.

>

> Three decades after Carson's landmark book " The Silent Spring "

first

> called attention to the hazards of the pesticide DDT, its lessons are the

> focus of an international effort to ban or phase out harmful organic

> chemical industry wastes which trespass in the environment and can turn up

> in breast milk.

>

> Doctors, environmental scientists, the chemical industry and even the

> $8-billion baby formula industry all agree with the labels on bottles of

> formula: " Breast Milk Is Recommended. "

>

> And, they also agree that there is no cause for panic, that the benefits

of

> breastfeeding far outweigh the risks associated with environmental

> contamination and that women themselves can limit their risks.

>

> U.S. Advocates: Monitor Breast Milk for Chemicals, as in Europe

>

> In Sweden, where 98 percent of mothers breast-feed their newborns, and in

> Germany, governments regularly test breast milk to monitor changes in

> chemical levels. Scattered American programs that monitored contaminants

in

> blood tests were abandoned during the Reagan administration for lack of

> funds and interest.

>

> U.S. advocates of breastfeeding want the reestablishment of breast milk

> monitoring programs along the lines of those in Europe.

>

> " We're pushing for the U.S. to take off its blinders and begin again, "

says

> Dr. , a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense

> Council and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University

> of California at San Francisco. She is an expert on chemicals in mother's

> milk.

>

> " What we find out may or may not hurt us, " she said, " but we have a right

> to know. "

>

> Universally considered the superior nourishment for babies and regarded as

> a " perfect food, " breast milk contains nutrients that build the baby's

body

> plus proteins that transmit immunity to disease. Breast milk may

contribute

> to lower incidence of diabetes, ear infections and cancer later in life.

> Pediatric studies indicate that breast-fed babies are less likely to get

> diarrhea as well as ear, respiratory and urinary tract infections than

> formula-fed infants. Other studies show that benefits to the mother may

> include reduced risk of breast cancer, osteoporosis and other diseases.

>

> But in order to produce that perfect food, the mother's body taps her own

> fat resources that may harbor harmful substances. It was in the early

1970s

> that a Swedish researcher exploring concentrations of environmental

> contaminants in fish and sediments happened to test his wife's breast

> milk--and discovered high levels of the pesticide DDT, now widely banned.

>

> Ingesting High Proportion of Body Weight, Infants Susceptible to Toxins

>

> While toxins may be transferred from mother to fetus, it is after birth

> that babies are particularly susceptible to contaminants. Because infants

> develop so rapidly, they ingest such a high percentage of their body

weight

> daily that their exposure to chemical contaminants is disproportionately

> high. Corrected for body weight, a bottle-fed infant's consumption of

water

> per day is equal to an adult drinking almost seven and a half quarts.

>

> Subsequent studies revealed disturbing concentrations of other pesticides

> and chemicals as well as dioxins and other toxins called furans, the

> by-products of combustion in the presence of chlorine. All of these

> man-made chemicals are termed persistent organic pollutants because they

> fail to break down in the environment.

>

> This generation's grandmothers didn't have to worry because these chemical

> pollutants have been developed in the last 60 years. They are used in

> pesticides and electrical insulation. They are also a product of

combustion

> in incinerators, power plants, cement kilns and metal smelters. They can

> come into contact with humans through side effects of their intended use,

> such as waste disposal, or accidents, such as spills or explosions.

>

> People can be exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals by driving a car,

> using plastics, working with chemical products on the job or in hobbies or

> inhaling emissions from incinerators.

>

> Once accumulated, persistent organic pollutants can work their way up the

> food chain and lodge in body fat where concentrated deposits, or

> bioaccumulations, may cause such problems as neurological damage, learning

> disorders and endocrine disruption.

>

> Already a Big Drop in Breast Milk Toxins Because of Regulations

>

> During the last three decades, after toxin levels peaked in the late 1960s

> and 1970s, some countries unilaterally took steps to significantly reduce

> toxin levels. Studies show a 50- to 70-percent decline in monitored levels

> of dioxins and chlorine contaminants in breast milk, attributable to bans

> on toxic chemicals and improved manufacturing methods, the phaseout of

> leaded gasoline, advances in emissions controls and prohibitions on open

> burning.

>

> Environmental experts want to see the bans extended to protect Americans

> from contaminants found in imported foods and wind drifts.

>

> " We don't want these toxins in the food supply and raining down on us, "

> cautions Dr. of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

>

> The Stockholm Convention calls for a universal ban on polychlorinated

> biphenyls, or PCBs, and nine specific pesticides. It also would mandate

new

> manufacturing methods that reduce byproduct dioxins and toxins produced by

> combustion involving poisonous chlorine.

>

> " These substances need to be managed, " said Clifford T. Howlett Jr.,

> executive director of the Chlorine Chemistry Council, " especially those

> with a propensity for global transport. " The treaty provides for future

> identification and prohibition of other toxins, such as currently suspect

> brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers).

>

> Nursing Mothers Should Take Steps to Further Protect Their Infants

>

> Formula, which can be made with contaminated water and can carry traces of

> toxic metals, bacteria and other environmental toxins, has its own risks.

> Additionally, contaminants may be carried in the baby bottles and nipples.

>

> Concerned mothers can take steps to help protect their bodies and their

> babies from the invasion of persistent organic pollutants.

>

> Nursing mothers should neither smoke nor drink alcohol. They should avoid

> contact with solvents such as paints, thinners, glues and dry-cleaning

> fluids. The safest diet concentrates on organic fruits and vegetables.

Fish

> with high mercury levels such as swordfish, shark and tuna steaks should

be

> avoided, and women should heed advisories on local fish from nearby bodies

> of water. Whole milk, cheeses and other fatty dairy products may harbor

> chemicals and should be eaten with caution.

>

> Nursing mothers who see signs of jaundice in their infants or who suspect

> possible exposure to toxic chemicals should consult their doctors for

> recommended testing methods.

>

> In the meantime, such disparate groups as the La Leche League, the

American

> Chemistry Council, formula manufacturers and the Natural Resources Defense

> Council all concur.

>

> " The message we are trying to send is not to switch to formula, but to

keep

> a cleaner environment, " said Dr. of the Natural Resources Defense

> Council. " It would be a terrible shame if women stopped breast-feeding;

> it's still the best choice. "

>

> Sharon King Hoge is a free-lance writer in New York.

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> For more information, visit:

>

> Natural Resources Defense Council:

> http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/

>

> Parent's Place:

> http://www.parentsplace.com/expert/lactation/

>

> World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action:

> http://www.waba.org.br/

>

> Chlorine Chemistry Council:

> http://www.c3.org/chlorine_issues/

>

> Information on Persistent Organic Pollutants:

> http://www.pops-info.org/

>

> La Leche League:

> http://www.lalecheleague.org/

>

> Breastfeed.com:

> http://www.breastfeed.com/

>

> American Academy of Pediatrics:

> http://www.aap.org/

>

> Send this story to a friend.

> Your Name:

> Friend's Email: Send

>

>

> home about us contact us donate help letters to the editors links

pressroom

> search subscriber/member faq sylvia sign in

> Copyright 2001 NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund

>

>