Hi - hope this isn't too long to post - info on dioxins...
Re: "We do know that for women with PCBs at the high end of the range in
the
American population, their babies have reduced IQ but not as reduced as
babies fed infant formula" Why not? Karleen Gribble, Australia
"Our studies showed evidence that breast feeding counteracts the adverse
developmental effects of PCBs and dioxins." - this is from high prenatal
exposure, not bfg exposure
- short answer - I don't think they know why yet! That'll be the next study
so they can try and put it in formula.
Michelle Bentley, CLE, LLL
-long related info follows:
This study specifically looked at development of breastfed children
exposed to PCBs and dioxins. They found that breastfeeding actually
protected children from adverse neurological outcomes from *prenatal
exposure*
while formula feeding did not. You can find the full abstract on PubMed by
searching for the authors or parts of the title.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
excerpts:
CONCLUSION: These data give evidence that prenatal exposure to PCBs do have
subtle negative effects on neurological and cognitive development of the
child up to school-age. Human
breast milk volume and fat content is adversely affected by the presently
encountered PCB levels in W. Europe. **Our studies showed evidence that
breast feeding counteracts the adverse developmental effects of PCBs and
dioxins.**
Boersma ER, Lanting CI. Environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and dioxins: Consequences for longterm neurological and cognitive
development of the child.Adv Exp Med Biol 2000;478:271-87
*****
Current levels of the majority of contaminants identified in Canadian breast
milk do not pose unacceptable risks to infants. Benefits of breast-feeding
are well documented and qualitatively appear to outweighpotential health
concerns associated with organochlorine exposure. Furthermore, the risks
ofmortality from not
breast-feeding estimated by Rogan and colleagues exceed the theoretical
cancer risks estimated for infant exposure
to potential carcinogens in Canadian breast milk.
Hoover SM. Exposure to persistent organochlorines in Canadian breast milk: a
probabilistic assessment. Risk Anal 1999 Aug;19(4):527-45
******
From: Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 107, Number 1, January 1999
Dietary Exposure to PCBs and Dioxins in Children
"However, several studies have demonstrated that the benefits of nursing
outweigh any potential risk from
contaminants transferred in the milk"
http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107-1/birnbaum.html
Earth Day News Is That Breastfeeding Remains Best Choice In A Polluted World
http://www.lalecheleague.org/Release/EarthDay.html
Pesticides and Breastfeeding
http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVMayJun94p37.html
excerpts:
Estimated loss of life expectancy from cancer from human milk exposure to
the contaminants studied was less than three days; in contrast, the decrease
in life expectancy from excess postneonatal mortality in infants not
breastfed compared to the increase in life expectancy in breastfed infants
is about seventy days. There was not only no advantage to avoiding
breastfeeding, there was a disadvantage. Breastfed children, even those at
the extreme doses of contaminants considered to be in human milk, had a net
lower risk of death and longer life expectancy.
Rogan concluded that at current levels, the estimated cancer risks
associated with possible contaminants in breast milk do not outweigh the
benefits of breastfeeding.
In 1992 Rogan once again reviewed what had been learned about PCBs and
related compounds. Information about breastfed children concluded that
despite the presence of PCBs in breast milk, no association between breast
milk exposure and any measured outcome has been seen other than lower
activity levels at four years among long-term breastfed children at the
highest PCB levels.
And finally, in 1993 Rogan examined breastfeeding and cognitive development
in the children he had followed for so long. What he discovered was that the
breastfed children, even though they had received higher contaminant loads
through human milk than the children who had been bottle-fed from birth,
scored significantly higher on mental and psychomotor development tests (at
all time points from two years through five years) and had higher English
grades on report cards from grade three or higher. There were also trends
toward higher scores with increasing length of breastfeeding.
Rogan concludes that breastfeeding, even with known contaminants in human
milk, offers the potential for enhancing the children's development within
the population at no risk and little cost.
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