Dear Wise Lact-experts,
   I am really missing Lactnet as we try to sell this place and buy something
bigger - feel a bit out of touch. I have a mom who requests your input ;
Mom would like to take a job teaching Gross Anatomy this June. ( Frankly my
dream job, not joking here ;)) Her nursling will be 12 months by then. The job
will be once a week for about 8 hours of lab time. According to Hale,
formaldehyde is "strictly controlled by federal regulations to a permissable
level or 2 ppm. At room temp it is a colorless gas with a pungent, irritating
odor detectible at 0.5 ppm. At exposure to 1-4 ppm, formaldehyde is a strong
mucus membrane irritant, producing burning and lacrimation. Formaldehyde is
rapidly destroyed by plasma and tissue enzymes and it is very unlikely that
any would enter human milk following envirnonmental exposures. However, acute
intoxications following high oral or inhaled doses could lead to significant
levels of maternal plasma formic acid which could enter milk. There is no data
suggesting untoward side effects in nursing infants as a result of mild to
minimal envirnonmental exposure of the mother.
Adult Concerns:Cough, mucous membrane irritation, chest pain, dyspnea, and
wheezing occur in individuals exposed to 5-30 ppm.
Pediatric concerns: none reported via milk"
page 263 '97 edition
Would anyone like to comment on the interpretation of this data knowing that
the baby will be 12 months, and the exposure being 8 hours once/week. My
experience in gross anatomy dissection leads me to believe that as long as the
mother does not experience the above side effects ( or her arms don't fall
asleep, which did happen to me once after many hours without a break, but then
I was dissecting, not teaching) then her child would not be exposed through
nursing. Comments anyone? She would like to able to nurse her daughter on
first coming home after being gone all day. She will be wearing gloves during
the teaching. She will be commuting from Brooklyn to CT for this job, so there
will be a time of no exposure after work before nursing as well, so this would
give those enzymes plenty of time to work if needed? Thank you in advance,
Judy Fram, who can be emailed privately at: [log in to unmask]