Friends, here below is the abstract of a soon-to-be published study
that documents higher levels of pesticides and PCBs in the blood
serum of breastfed infants, as compared to their formula-fed
counterparts.

Not sure how much press attention it will receive when the study is
finally released.  I received news of this on an international
anti-toxics listserv.  Sandra

___________

Lackmann, G.-M., Schaller, K.-H., Angerer, J., 2004.  Organochlorine
compounds in breast-fed vs. bottle-fed infants:  preliminary results
at six weeks of age.  Science Total Environ. In Press.

Abstract
Background: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene
(HCB), and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT) are
ubiquitous compounds with carcinogenic and teratogenic
properties.They are chemically very stable and lipophilic and,
therefore, accumulate in our food-chain. They are prenatally
transmitted from mother to foetus, and mother's milk due to its high
lipid content is an elimination pathway of special importance.
Therefore, breast-feeding has been held responsible for elevated
concentrations of these organochlorine compounds as well as for
harmful effects in children later in life. Methods: Blood samples
(2.5 ml) were taken from each 10 breast-fed and bottle-fed infants at
6 weeks of age. Blood specimens were immediately centrifuged, and
serum was stored in glass tubes at -20 oC until analysis. Three
higher chlorinated PCB congeners (IUPAC nos.138, 153 and 180), HCB,
and the organic metabolite of DDT, p,p<-DDE, were analysed with
capillary gas chromatography with electron capture detection.
Reliability was tested with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Results: There were no differences between the study groups of
breast-fed and bottle-fed infants with regard to sex distribution,
gestational age, birthweight, age of the mothers, and smoking
behaviour of the parents.In contrast, serum concentrations of all
organochlorine compounds were significantly higher (P-0.0001) in
breast-fed than in bottle-fed infants (mean):
PCB 138, 0.38 vs. 0.10 mg/l; PCB 153, 0.49 vs. 0.1 mg/l; PCB 180,
0.31 vs. 0.04 mg/l; SPCB, 1.19 vs. 0.29 mg/l; HCB, 0.13 vs. 0.04
mg/l; p,p<-DDE, 1.05 vs. 0.18 mg/l. Conclusions: Breast-feeding
significantly increases the pollution of our infants with different
organochlorine compounds as early as at 6 weeks of age. The progress
of the present study will show whether this pollution will further
increase with longer duration of breast-feeding, and whether
breast-feeding bears any health risks for our offspring.
--
--

Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D.
Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Division of Interdisciplinary Studies
307 Job Hall
Ithaca College
Ithaca,NY 14850-7012
[log in to unmask]
www.steingraber.com

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html