Dear Kathleen,
You have probably already dug all of this up, but, from my Lactnet files....
Here's an excerpt from a 1994 LEAVEN article, "Pesticides and Breastfeeding" by Betty Crase, in which she describes a study by W. Rogan, who compared the risks of contaminants in breast milk with the risks of formula feeding:
"Estimated loss of life expectancy from cancer from human milk exposure to the contaminants studied was less than three days; in contrast, the decrease in life expectancy from excess postneonatal mortality in infants not breastfed compared to the increase in life expectancy in breastfed infants
is about seventy days. There was not only no advantage to avoiding breastfeeding, there was a disadvantage. Breastfed children, even those at the extreme doses of contaminants considered to be in human milk, had a net lower risk of death and longer life expectancy."
It's a terrific article and can be found in LEAVEN, Vol. 30 No. 3, May-June 1994, pp. 37-40. The reference cited in LEAVEN for this study is:
Rogan, W. J. et al. Should the presence of carcinogens in breast milk discourage breast feeding? Reg Toxicol Pharmacol 1991; 13:228-40.
Hope this is helpful. There is a wonderful new website, "Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby," about breast milk contamination, created by Dr. Gina Solomon at the National Resources Defense Council, if you want
more details. It has a very pro-breastfeeding focus. The url is http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/
Pesticides and Breastfeeding
http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVMayJun94p37.html
Good resource person - lots of stuff from her in archives:
Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor
Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors
110 Rice Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
[log in to unmask]
www.steingraber.com
Hope this helps.
Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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