Dear Lactnet:

I was contacted recently by a woman who saw the NY Times article about
environmental contaminents in breastmilk who is expecting her second child
in January.  Her first child has been diagnosed with (mild) autism, and
understandably, she seems primarily concerned about the sentence in the
article that read, "We do know that for women with PCB's at the high end of
the range in the American population, their babies have reduced IQ, and loss
of some psychological and verbal skills."   I have given her what
information I know, primarily from people who have posted on Lactnet in
recent months, and directed her to several websites that I think give clear
information and put the topic in some reasonable, less scary perspective
(well, less scary after you absorb how polluted our world is...).

This has not really convinced her that it is safe, let alone better, to
breastfeed this coming baby.  She has inquired about the possibility of
testing her breastmilk or taking some other tests in the hope of reassuring
herself that breastfeeding is still the best thing to do.  I asked her
permission to post this question to you all.  Is it possible to test
breastmilk for contaminents?  Where?  And will the results mean anything?

By the way, I have tried to check the archives with little success, mainly
because my computer was acting up.  If this is too repetitive of old
information, please, will some generous soul email me privately?  Thanks!

Robyn Love
LLLI Peer Counselor and LCCE in Queens, NY

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