Nikki Lee wrote: "Dr. Michel Odent has been working on this topic. His latest article uses evidence from around the world to show that it is the prenatal, or intrauterine exposure to toxins and pollutants that makes the big difference to the health of babies. Breastfeeding is not the main concern, as evidence shows it has protective effects even in children exposed to high levels of nasty things in utero." The key word here is "main concern". The risk of toxic exposure really varies with the toxin and the site of activity. For example, studies show that lead exposure in utero is less damaging than lead exposure at 1-2 years of age. Our goal should be to pressure the government and industry to hold manufacturers liable for damage from the chemicals they make and to fully test chemicals before being allowed to use them (right now the vast majority of the hundreds-thousands of new chemicals developed each year are allowed on the market with only rudimentary testing). When it comes to breast milk, however, until proven otherwise we can safely say that the benefits GREATLY outweigh the risks. Harvey *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html