Carol, thank you for sharing this. I'm sure that Lactnetters with the
appropriate backgrounds and expertise will add further information and
commentary.

   Over many years, breastmilk has been used as a convenient way to sample
bodily tissues for contamination by substances in the environment.
Sampling milk is non-invasive, unlike punching out a biopsy from the body's
organs. Invariably, media headlines report - not that a particular
substance was found in human bodily tissues - but that it was found in our
milk. That's true - but what is not said is that this is typically a marker
for other possible sites. Also not mentioned is the fact that infants
crawl, and are frequently in close contact with carpets or seating that is
protected from spills by treatments containing the substances in question.

As I read it in the article, the actions the authors suggest are making
manufacturers eliminate these substances in their processes. However, what
a family is likely to get from the report is a need to protect the precious
infant from breastfeeding. If one of the less responsible newspapers takes
this up, the report could be sensationalised, and reach a larger audience.

Yes, we should be concerned, but as individuals working with mothers and
their babies, and with families, it is obvious that we need to find ways to
reassure the adults in the babies' lives. Removing species-specific milk
with unparallelled nutritional and protective powers is not going to give a
baby zero contact with contamination, and it can only make infants
vulnerable in other ways. We are still learning the many, many ways that
breastmilk provides protection - it is amazing.

Virginia

Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA
Ipswich, Queensland, Australia

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