Do not know how most of you feel about this invitation from www.ewg.org
?

Judy Ritchie

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/factsheets/whatyoucando.php


First-time moms: Do you have a new baby? Get tested.
If you are a first-time mom, at least six-months pregnant or with a
newborn baby, you can volunteer to participate in an important
scientific study to identify levels of industrial chemicals in breast
milk. Widely considered the very best food for babies, breast milk also
carries traces of industrial pollutants that bind to breast milk fat.
With funding from philanthropic foundations, we have initiated a study
with a major national laboratory to test a limited number of breast milk
samples from first-time moms, for a number of industrial chemicals that
concern scientists, including brominated flame retardants. Would you be
interested in participating in this scientific study? The cost to you is
nothing. Your results would be anonymous, used in scientific
publications, and your participation could advance science and
regulatory policy in ways that could make breast milk an even better
source of nutrition for babies. (Click here for more information.) 
In case the above link does not work for you, this is the page for
responding.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/factsheets/whatyoucando_more.php


You might wish to read about low dose exposures, which they say affects
breast feeding:

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/factsheets/lowdoses.php


Low dose studies often identify toxic effects at levels far below those
identified as the “no effect” level in high dose studies. For instance,
through low dose studies of bisphenol A (BPA), a plasticizer chemical
commonly used in dental sealants and plastic water bottles, scientists
have revealed health effects at levels 2,500 times lower than EPA’s
“lowest observed effect” dose, with adverse outcomes ranging from
altered male reproductive organs and aggressive behavior, to abnormal
mammary gland growth, early puberty, and reduced breast feeding.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/factsheets/lowdoses_more.php

Bisphenol A. A number of low dose studies have focused on effects of
bisphenol A, a building block of polycarbonate plastics that is used in
dental sealants and to line virtually all aluminum and steel cans, among
many other uses. The seminal study, by Nagel et al (1997), found
increased prostate weight in male mice exposed as fetuses to 2 mg/kg/d.
In subsequent studies, scientists have now linked low dose bisphenol A
exposures to altered development of the mammary gland (25 mg/kg/d and
100 mg/kg) (Colerangle and Roy 1997, Markey, et al. 2001), vagina (100
mg/kg/d) (Schonfelder, et al. 2002a) and prostate (2 - 50 mg/kg/d)
(Gupta 2000, Nagel, et al. 1997, Ramos, et al. 2001); earlier onset of
puberty in female mice (2.4 and 20 mg/kg/d) (Honma, et al. 2002,
Howdeshell, et al. 1999); effects on behavior (2 to 40 mg/kg/d)
(Adriani, et al. in press 2003, Dessi-Fulgheri, et al. 2002, Facciolo,
et al. 2002, Farabollini, et al. 1999, Kawai, et al. in press, Palanza,
et al. 2002) and decreased sperm production (20 mg/kg/d) (Sakaue, et al.
2001, vom Saal, et al. 1998). Scientists found increased rates of
embryonic development at 1 nM (0.23 ppb) ((Takai, et al. 2000a, Takai,
et al. 2000b).

Infants ingest bisphenol A in formula at an estimated daily rate of 1.6
mg/kg-day (SCF 2002), giving little safety margin from the doses that
cause effects in animal studies (doses as low as 2 ug/kg/d).

Human fetal plasma BPA levels were recently reported at between 0.2 to
9.2 ng/ml (ppb) (Schonfelder, et al. 2002b). The median BPA level in
this study (2.3 ng/ml (ppb)) is consistent with a median of 2.2 ng/ml
(ppb) reported in a recent Japanese study (Ikezuki, et al. 2002).
Notably, some of the effects cause by BPA in animal studies appear to be
increasingly common in some segments of the human population, including
early onset of puberty (Herman-Giddens, et al. 1997) and decreased sperm
production (Swan, et al. 2000, Toppari, et al. 1996).

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