Re: last week's question on occupational gasoline/diesel exposure and
breastfeeding, here is a belated response on the topic that I just
received from Dr. Gina Solomon, occupational health physician and
author of the new website on breast milk contamination
(http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk).  I'm posting her analysis to the
whole list because it contains such good information that I thought
it might be useful to all who receive future inquiries from
breastfeeding mothers in similar situations.

Gina Solomon wrote:

"Both gasoline and diesel contain a whole slew of organic solvents, some
of which have a blood-milk partition coefficient that implies that
significant levels could get into milk. The section of our website
  on solvents has some of that information. [See above. --ss]

Unfortunately, there's not much data in humans on how much of these
solvents get into breast milk. Solvents such as toluene, xylene, and
benzene are the biggies in this context. The potential hazards to a baby
are important: benzene is known to cause leukemia in humans, toluene and
xylene are developmental toxicants, and all of these chemicals are toxic
to the liver and the brain.

My suggestions in this context are the following:

--The precise exposures of the specific job are extremely important. If
a mother is significantly exposed by inhalation or dermal contact with the
fuel products, then breastfeeding could be a problem. If it's a job with
minimal direct exposure, or with really good industrial hygiene
controls, then she may not need to worry too much.

--A breastfeeding mother working in the gasoline/diesel fuel industry
can do several things to minimize her own, and her baby's exposure:

1) She should use butyl rubber gloves (this stuff would go through
latex), an impervious apron if there's any chance of splashing, and
strongly consider wearing a respirator. If the stuff doesn't get into
her body, it won't get into her milk. In regard to the respirator,
depending on the levels of solvents in the air, she may need a 1/2 face
vapor cartridge respirator, or a more serious supplied-air respirator.
The latter are very expensive and may or may not be provided by the
company or feasible to use in the worksite.

2) She should change clothes before going home, or wear a coverall at
work. The vapors can permeate clothing.

3) She should try to avoid breastfeeding in the 2-3 hours after
returning home, since the solvents will leave her system fairly quickly
(mostly via urine and exhaled breath), but the highest levels will be
near/at the end of her shift.

4) This is VERY controversial/speculative, but there may be some benefit
to pumping and letting the milk stand for a little while (??15-20
minutes?), since the main chemicals of concern are highly volatile, and
would tend to evaporate off into the air.

It might be possible to get breast milk tested after a shift.  The
sample collection is tricky, since it needs to be kept in an airtight
container and tested fairly quickly. If milk testing is unavailable,
there are fairly readily
available tests for benzene, toluene, and xylene in blood, urine, or
exhaled breath. Such a test both before and after a workshift would at
least quantify the mother's exposure, and see if the protective
equipment is working.

This is the kind of case that should probably be seen by a specialist in
Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Check out http://www.aoec.org for a
good OEM clinic in the region, and get an opinion from a specialist."

[end]

--
--

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

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