Kathy,

    Was that article written by a formula company? because it seems to have
that kind of slant...you're poisoning your baby if you breastfeed, but its
still best for the baby.
    If the article really wanted to say what it allegedly was trying to say
(i.e. that there have been environmental toxins found in breastmilk, but
these toxins are in the environment, in the cows, etc., so formula feeding
wouldn't reduce the risk) why did it go on and give a full history of the
study of toxins in breastmilk, instead of focusing on the presence of these
toxins in the environment and how they have been absorbed by people in the
first place?  It seems like they played up the danger, but gave the token
"breast is best" line in there too.
    Obviously, if the cows are probably contaminated too, then other factors
needed to be looked at...either these are from what the cows are eating
(either bad feed...issues I don't want to think about, or pesticides in the
grass, etc. and then the mom is drinking that milk, eating that cow),
contaminants in the air, water, etc. (it gets in the cows milk somehow, just
like it gets into ours) and it might even be in the soil, in the plants,
etc.  There is a concern over multiple toxins.  These are in the mother and
most of the ways they would be absorbed into the mother (through food,
breathing, water, contact) they would be absorbed by the baby, especially if
the baby was formula fed, except for the solid food issue.  The article also
seemed to imply that this is one of the first broad studies of toxins in
milk, and so maybe these have been there all along (at least since the
industrial revolution) and that there is some protective benefit going on
that we don't know about.
    I'm not saying that the level of contamination doesn't warrant concern,
but I was just really disturbed by the tone of the article.  The headline,
"British breast milk 'highly contaminated'  Breast milk could contain
harmful chemicals, say experts" already highly overshadows any good things
that are said in the article.   The issue is that people are being
contaminated by harmful chemicals, not that breastmilk is.   Ending with
"She said: "The issue of environmental pollutants is not simply one for
breast milk but potentially affects all foods, including cow's milk from
which many infant formulae are derived."  and what is said in the last half
of the article is very underemphasized by the power of the first half.
AAAAGHHH
    Oh well, have a good day everyone!

Lora Horn
grad student, wife, and Mommy to 2 year old Christopher
Pasadena, CA
  __________________________________

"The services which mothers and fathers habituallly render their children
are so taken for granted that their magnitude is forgotten.  In no other
relationship do human beings place themselves so unreservedly and so
continuously at the disposal of others."      --John Bowlby

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