I hope some find this helpful. Following is a document created by Northwest Environmental Watch and the Washington Toxics Coalition to help those working in breastfeeding address questions that may arise as a result of their recent publication. This is not a CDC document. I apologize for any formatting strangeness, because it is not my document, I copied and pasted it exactly as it originally appeared. Questions and Answers about PBDEs in Breastmilk of Puget Sound Women Northwest Environment Watch and the Washington Toxics Coalition will release a study on February 25, 2004, with information on the levels of toxic flame retardants in Puget Sound residents, as assessed by testing human milk. This study follows a national study released in September 2003 by the Environmental Working Group that found unprecedented levels of flame retardants in breastmilk. The following information is designed to help breastfeeding specialists answer questions that pregnant or lactating women may have about the study. For additional information, please contact: Erika Schreder (x19) or Laurie Valeriano (x14), Washington Toxics Coalition, 206 632 1545 Clark Williams-Derry, Northwest Environment Watch, 206 447 1880 x106 What are PBDEs? PBDEs (or Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) are a family of flame-retarding chemicals used in computer plastics, furniture foams, textiles, and other products. There are 209 different kinds of PBDEs, but only a few are used commercially. Why should we care about PBDEs? Some forms of PBDEs are potentially dangerous to and accumulate readily in living things, including humans. PBDE levels in people and the environment have been rising rapidly in recent years, particularly in North America, where the use of PBDEs is highest. What are the health risks from PBDEs? PBDEs cause learning, memory, and behavior problems in laboratory animals. PBDEs have also been found to affect thyroid hormones and other bodily functions in laboratory studies. PBDEs are very similar to a class of chemicals known as PCBs. These chemicals, which were banned in the late 1970s, can impede children's mental development. Scientists have found that PBDEs and PCBs work in similar ways, and may even act together to impair development. PBDE levels in people's bodies are currently lower than but may eventually surpass PCB levels. Why test breast milk for PBDEs? Testing human breast milk is a good way to determine PBDE levels in people's bodies. Breast milk is high in fat, and PBDEs collect in fat-which makes it possible to run comprehensive tests with a small amount of milk. Breast milk can provide a useful picture of the exposure of the population at large, and particularly of the exposures of reproductive-aged women and young children. What did the study show? The study tested the breastmilk of nine first-time mothers in the Puget Sound area. The results of the study will be released on February 25, 2004. Please see www.northwestwatch.org for the final report on that date. Should women continue to breastfeed? While the presence of toxic chemicals in humans' fetal environment and milk signals the urgent need to reduce community exposure to these pollutants, the weight of the evidence indicates that breastfeeding remains the healthiest option for mothers and babies. There are several reasons for this: * The greatest risk from exposure is during in utero development, not through breastfeeding. Suspending breastfeeding would not address the core problem: community (and thereby maternal and fetal) contamination. * * As noted by the Surgeon General Satcher and other health authorities, breastfeeding is one of the most important contributors to infant health in the U.S. Human milk provides babies with important and unique immune factors, promoters of neurological development, hormones, and nutrients. Without human milk, babies face a higher risk of many acute and chronic illnesses--health risks that outweigh the estimated risk from exposure to common levels of toxins in human milk. * * Breast-fed children do appear to have higher body levels of certain toxic chemicals. High concentrations of PCBs in breastmilk, for example, seem to reduce the resistance to infection that breastmilk ordinarily provides. However, while these contaminants diminish the benefits of breastfeeding, they do not negate them. * * Breastfeeding reduces mothers' risk of premenopausal breast cancer, potentially tempering some of the damage that pollution poses to women's health. The findings of this study should not discourage women from breastfeeding. Women deserve the ability to choose to nourish and protect their children by breastfeeding, without having to fear that environmental pollution has compromised the value or safety of their milk. The real solution is to pass policies that will reduce the levels of these toxic chemicals in the environment to safeguard babies in the womb and protect breastmilk. The Washington Toxics Coalition and the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition are seeking state policies that will eliminate the release of persistent toxic chemicals that are long-lived in the environment and build up in our bodies and breastmilk. For more information on policy changes sought we are seeking, please see www.watoxics.org. For information on joining the Toxic Free Legacy Coalition, please see www.toxicfreelegacy.org. Has there been government action on PBDEs? Yes. PBDEs have been banned in Sweden, and some forms of PBDE are scheduled for phaseout in the European Union. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced an agreement to remove the two most troubling forms of PBDE from the market in the United States. However, a form of PBDE that is widely used in computers and consumer electronics will remain in use. In Washington state, Governor Gary Locke issued an executive order on January 28th 2004 directing the Washington State Department of Ecology to develop a plan to reduce exposures to PBDEs. Environmental, public health, and consumer advocacy groups are seeking a ban on the use of PBDEs and other toxic flame retardants that persist in the environment and build up in our bodies. This effort is part of a larger statewide policy and strategy to phase out persistent toxic chemicals, including mercury, dioxin, and PBDEs. As of February 2004, the state program is stifled by a lack of funding. The Washington state legislature is currently debating funding for the program, which is urgently needed so that the state can take swift action on these persistent toxic chemicals. *********************************************** 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(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html