Dear Janice and Lactnetters: Here is my letter to Mother Jones magazine concerning the interview article by Ms. Snell re: environmental contaminants and breastfeeding. BTW, the vast majority of the following text is from the materials developed by WABA and ILCA for World Breastfeeding Week 1997. These materials are still available from these organizations if you are interested. ---------------- Dear Mother Jones Magazine: Thank you for your interesting and thought-provoking interview with Marilyn Berlin Snell. It is a good reminder that progress is not without price, including the endangerment of our inheritors, our children. In response to the article's discussion on the environmental risk factors associated with breastfeeding, I believe Ms. Snell and your readers would appreciate some additional information. Babies who are breastfed have lower risk for illness and death from contaminants and toxins in the environment than babies who are not breastfed. --Breastfed babies need no additional food or drink for about the first 6 months of life, reducing their exposure to contaminated or low-quality water or food and unsanitary food preparation areas. --Breastmilk rarely has environmental contaminants compared with industrially-produced baby foods which can fall victim to contamination (Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 1994). Studies show that neurological damage from fetal exposure to toxins is mitigated in direct proportion to the amount of breast milk in an infant's diet. --The World Health Organization has carefully examined environmental toxins and the risk to chidren. They concluded that the advantages of breastmilk far outweigh any possible risks and recommend breastfeeding as preferable to any alternative. Occasionally, reports will appear discussing the levels of contaminants in mother's milk, scaring women away from breastfeeding. The baby food industry has capitalized on mothers' insecurities, exaggerating the qualities of artificial milks and minimizing their known and proven risks. Here are some things to keep in mind: --Breastmilk is an easy source of human body fat for measuring the amount of toxins carried by a community's residents. Health authorities are not usually interested in the toxing levels in milk itself — studies are not typically done becaue of suspicions about ill-health of breastfed babies. Other feeding methods draw raw materials from the same environment as human milk and are likely to contain the same environmental contaminants, as well as other possible contaminants resulting from the manufacturing process. --No company can continuously monitor its milk for every possible contaminant. Chemicals, metals, and organic compounds are never discovered if they are never sought. --Thirteen percent of infants studied were exposed to lead levels in excess of World Health Organization guidelines through artificial baby milk feedings (British Med J. 1996). --Methemoglobinemia (Blue baby syndrome) arises most frequently from drinking water contaminated with nitrates from agricultural fertilizers. Over 12 million people in the U.S. drink water from public water systems where nitrate levels exceed standards. Such water systems are also used by artificial baby milk and infant food manufacturers. Infants whose food sources are reconstituted with nitrate-rich tap water (artificial baby milk, juice) face an exposure 80 times greater than infants not exposed to such water. Nitrates are not passed through breastmilk. Of course, the irony of Ms. Snell's statements is that any alternative to human milk for infant feeding perpetuates the very environmental contamination she condemns. The manufacture of artificial baby milks contribute to environmental pollution in many ways: Cow: methane, rangeland soil compaction and degradation, fecal runoff into soils and water supplies, feed consumption, de-forestation to create more range or agricultural land. Animal Feed: Carbon monoxide (CO) from growing, shipping and processing the crop; pesticide and herbicide runoff into water and soil; soil erosion, depending on farming practices. May also include animal components (beef, chicken, fish) which may contain toxic contaminants (PCBs, BSE virus, etc.) Milk Collection: CO exhausts from power plants for milking machines and refrigeration, and from transportation to processing center. Milk Processing: CO exhaust from power plants for electricity and from processing centers for processing milk; chemicals from equipment cleaning; water wastes; wastes from processing and transporting ingredients. Milk Packaging: CO exhaust from manufacture and shipping of packaging materials - steel, plastic, paper, cardboard; chemicals from label printing; wastes from individual product as well as group packaging. Product Transportation: CO exhaust from transport to distribution centers, warehouses, and individual retailers, sometimes international. Product Waste Disposal: landfill, ocean dumping, or incineration; water and ground contamination; non-bio-degradable, non-recyclable materials (plastics). There are no easy answers. However, continuing campaigns to phase out PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants have shown promise. Protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding is the best way to support such campaigns as well as building the healthiest children possible. In 1997, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) declared the annual theme for World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7) as "Breastfeeding: Nature's Way." WABA and the International Lactation Consultant Association both have excellent materials examining the environmental impact of infant feeding. Such materials may be of great interest and value to your readers. The organizations may be contacted as noted below. "If breastmilk becomes too contaminated to use, then it is likely that our chances of having healthy children, or even being able to reproduce at all, will be in jeopardy." --Gabrielle Palmer Sincerely, Doraine Bailey, MA Breastfeeding Promotion and Support Specialist International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) 4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 201 Raleigh, NC 27607 USA Tel:919/787-5181 fax:919/787-4916 http://www.erols.com/ilca World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) World Breastfeeding Week Coordination Av.Beira Mar, 3661 Lj.18 Casa Caiada - Olinda - PE CEP 53130-540 - Brazil Fax:55-81-4321599 http://www.elogica.com.br/waba email:[log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com