I just received the below message from Julia Block and thought it
appropriate to forward to our list serve, especially after reading
>>From: Pam Jaiswal <[log in to unmask]>
Article on dioxins:
http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Diet_and_Dioxins_The_Need_to_Cut_Back.
shtml
I was very disturbed by it.<<
-----Original Message-----
From: (Lactation Information Network) On Behalf Of Julia Ann Dlhopolsky
Block
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 11:19 AM
Julia D. Block, CAPT, MC, USNR
Pediatric Clinic
Halyburton Naval Hospital
PSC 8023
Cherry Point, NC 28533
252-466-0225 (W)
252-466-0159 (FAX)
Julia D. Block, MD, MPH, FAAP (CAPT, MC, USNR)
Clinical Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of
Medicine
AAP New York 2 Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinator
AMSUS Representative, United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
La Leche International (LLLI) Peer Counselor Program Administrator and
Medical Associate
314 Plymouth Avenue
Brightwaters, NY 11718
H: 631-666-6515
FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY--THIS MESSAGE AND ANY ATTACHMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN
REVIEWED OR APPROVED BY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS OR BY THE SECTION
ON BREASTFEEDING.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Sept. 19, 2005
MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT:
Amy Buehler Stranges (717) 531-8606 e-mail: [log in to unmask]
INTERNATIONAL PANEL PROVIDES POLICY AND SCIENCE GUIDANCE:
BREAST-FEEDING STILL BEST DESPITE ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS IN HUMAN MILK
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health devotes September issue
to Workshop
HERSHEY, PA-The presence of environmental chemicals in human milk does
not necessarily indicate health risks for infants, according to an
international panel led by Cheston M. Berlin, Jr., M.D., University
professor of pediatrics and professor of pharmacology, and Judy S.
LaKind, Ph.D., adjunct associate professor of pediatrics, Penn State
College of Medicine, Penn State Children's Hospital at Penn State Milton
S. Hershey Medical Center. Few, if any, adverse effects have been
documented as being associated with consumption of human milk containing
background levels of environmental chemicals, and none have been
clinically or epidemiologically demonstrated.
The Second Workshop on Human Milk Surveillance and Biomonitoring for
Environmental Chemicals in the United States gathered a panel of experts
(representing academia, industry, nonprofit organizations and the
federal government) in September 2004 at Penn State Hershey Medical
Center, Hershey, Pa. The Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
published workshop findings this month (September 2005, volume 68,
number 20).
"We strongly emphasize that the mere presence of an environmental
chemical in human milk does not indicate that a health risk exists for
breast-fed infants," Berlin said. "All information gathered to date
supports the positive health value of breast-feeding for infants."
The workshop explored issues related to the use of human milk
biomonitoring for environmental chemicals (including a wide range of
chemicals to which women may be exposed - industrial chemicals,
chemicals in personal care and home/yard products, pharmaceuticals, and
recreational and illicit drugs) for understanding human exposure and
health, and evaluating and communicating possible human health risk.
Milk biomonitoring is a non-invasive method that provides information on
levels of environmental chemicals in the body.
The 2004 expert panel noted "From a public health perspective, it is
critical to consider the tools needed to conduct human milk
biomonitoring without negatively impacting the already low
breast-feeding rates."
"Breast-feeding is widely accepted internationally as the gold standard
for infant feeding and has unparalleled advantages for both infants and
mothers," said Berlin, chair of the workshop. "Advantages for infants
include protection from infectious disease, optimal growth including
neurodevelopment, and possible protection from certain diseases later in
life. It is important to preserve breast-feeding as the best nutrition
for infants."
Four areas were explored: human milk research designed to answer
questions about health; exposure assessment issues; human health risk
assessment; and methods for facilitating human milk research.
"Because human milk provides information on exposures of both the
mother and infant, studies on associations with health outcomes for both
the mother and infant are possible" LaKind, president of LaKind
Associates, LLC, said. "One of the points we've tried to make clear is
that you cannot present risk-benefit information in a vacuum," she said.
"That's why we also recommend looking at infant formulas and the
chemicals in the water used to make the formulas. An example of this is
the potential effects on infants from phytoestrogens - plant compounds
with estrogenic activity - in soy-based formulas. In addition, the focus
of most human milk biomonitoring studies has been on persistent,
bioaccumulative compounds such as PCBs. Little work has been done on
shorter-lived chemicals such as volatile chemicals or on chemicals in
personal care products."
This 2004 workshop was a follow-up of the first workshop (2002): an
international panel that met at Penn State College of Medicine in
Hershey.
The 2004 panel identified a number of recommendations for future
surveillance and research, including:
* Determining levels of environmental chemicals found in human milk and
infant formula (including water used to prepare formulas and chemicals
from synthetic nipples and bottles), with special attention given to
those women who may have greater than background exposure;
* Identifying human biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility, and effects
to predict potential human health risks associated with specific
environmental chemicals in human milk and infant formula;
* Developing methods to analyze the risks and benefits to infants and
children exposed to environmental chemicals and endogenous chemicals via
breast-feeding and/or formula-feeding;
* Evaluating the usefulness of human milk biomonitoring in identifying
agents most likely to be associated with breast disease;
* Researching levels of environmental chemicals in human milk that may
occur through occupational exposures;
* Creating an Internet-based database for recording levels of
environmental chemicals reported in human milk and infant formula in a
standardized manner, with interpretation.
The workshop was supported by the American Chemistry Council; the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Department of Health and
Human Services Health Resources and Service Administration; Health
Canada; 3M Corporation; Penn State College of Medicine; Research
Foundation for Health and Environmental Effects; the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Office of Children's Health.
I apologize for the length of the above but I thought it important.
Lee Galasso, MS, IBCLC, RLC
Lactation Specialist
Westchester County, NY State
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