Sara,
Thanks for the information that Friesland Nutrition, Nutricia and Milupa put
the money up to pay for the printing of this thesis!  The Lanting et al study
is part of the huge Dutch PCB/Dioxin Breast Milk Studies.  It is obvious to
me that the original data is generating a number of studies in which the
premise is that "lactational transfer is a major route of exposure to the
nursing infant."  So it wouldn't be too surprising that the dairy and infant
formula industry would want this information given a high profile.  What is
interesting is that the US EPA and the European Communities accept these
substantially flawed studies as fact.

Buried in the EPA's Environmental Health Perspectives article on "Dietary
Exposure to PCBs and Dioxins in Children," is the statement "..it is
important to note that the effects observed in children correlated with their
prenatal exposure, rather than their lactational, exposure."  I will repeat,
prenatal exposure not lactational exposure!!!
http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107-1/birbaum.html

The use of the food chain to describe the passing of contaminants to the
breastfed infant seems to me to be an erronous concept to present in regard
to the passing of toxins within a species.  It certainly is a great concept
to stir up the populace.  I found some interesting web sites that suggest
early weaning at 3 months because of breastmilk contamination and some web
sites suggesting alternating breast with infant formula.  Is this what we
want--less breastfeeding, more use of a non-renewable resource?  And what
pray-tell is the science behind the purity of this man-made food called
infant formula?

Is the breastfed infant at the end of the food chain or is it really the
human infant that eats and drinks a substance that is not species specific
that is eating at the end of the food chain?  Why should we believe that the
milk produced by the mother who is partially breastfeeding represents the
exact same milk as produced by the mother who exclusively breastfeeds? The
mother who partially breastfeeds is in a stage of weaning.  We know the act
of weaning creates changes in the components on milk--increasing salt levels.
 Weaning changes the tight junctures of milk cells creating leaky junctures.
Do those leaking junctures spill more contaminants into the milk?

Did an independent lab test the contaminant levels of infant formula?  Or did
researchers take the word of the infant formula company for levels of
contamination? These are all troubling questions.  I think at the end of the
food chain, the modern web of life is the infant formula industry.  They are
devouring breastfeeding advocacy by their monied influence and propaganda.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC





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