Hi Naomi,
from what I have read, the rationale for testing milk -rather than blood or
other tissues-- is an attempt to find a possible etiology for breast cancer,
since toxins accumulated and sequestered in breast tissue are excreted into
human milk.  One thing I have read (there was a Rental Roundup article on
this a few years back) that has not been addressed in any media coverage I
have seen on this = the capacity of human milk to "detoxify" itself.  If I
recall correctly, the Rental Roundup article cited a study which found that
contaminants found in the milk went down in measurable levels as the milk
sat after expression, and that levels measured in the babies were far less
than expected based on the levels measured in milk after it was first
expressed.  Does anyone else recall reading this, or anything similar?
Maybe the mechanism involved is something like apoptosis?
martha Johnson RN IBCLC
Eugene OR

-----Original Message-----
From: Naomi Bar-Yam [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2002 6:53 AM
Subject: contaminants in breastmilk


Lactnetters,
  I had a 2 epiphany walk this morning. Here's one of them.
There is a lot of concern about and research going into
contaminants in breastmilk and transfer of said contaminants
to babies. The question is most often framed in terms of giving
mothers sound breastfeeding guidance.
Here's my question: contaminants are often measure in the blood.
Does anyone ask the same question about blood tansfusions and
blood donations? Are blood donors' blood tested for contaminants?
(I don't mean HIV, I mean toxic chemicals?) Are donor recipients
and their families informed of possible toxic chemicals in
donors' blood their loved one will be receiving.
I realize that it's not exactly the same thing, but I think there
are similarities in the two scenarios. Can anyone address the
science of this question? I'm sure many of us have comments
about the politics of it.
Naomi Bar-Yam

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