Study of the effect of lactational bone loss on blood lead concentrations in humans

Lactation and other clinical states of high bone turnover have been suggested to release lead (Pb) stored in bone into blood and tissues. Previous observations on the influences of lactation have been anecdotal, or at high blood Pb concentrations with varying past exposures, or complicated by postpartum fluid changes. A prospective observational study was performed to investigate possible changes in blood lead concentrations at multiple intervals during lactation for 6 months postpartum and to relate changes in blood lead concentrations to changes in bone density and other variables. Volunteer pregnant subjects (n = 58) were enrolled from a midwifery service at an academic public health hospital. Subjects were mostly Hispanic, recently immigrated, of low economic status, not receiving supplemental calcium, and had low blood Pb concentrations (2.35 +/- 2.05 microg/dl at enrollment). Bone density losses over 6 months for the group averaged -2.46 +/- 6.33% at the vertebral spine and -0.67 +/- 5.21% at the femoral neck. In predicting final bone density, apart from initial bone density only the total number of breast-feedings was a significant independent variable of the variables tested, accounting for an additional 12% of the variability. No changes in blood Pb concentrations were seen over the interval beyond 2 weeks postpartum (minimum detectable change was 0.4 microg/dl). There was no relation between the changes in bone density and changes in blood Pb or the integrated blood Pb over the 2-week to 6-month period. Normal (nonlactating) bone resorption rates contribute a large fraction of the Pb in blood during low-exposure circumstances. However, during lactation the increase in bone resorptive processes is probably relatively small with a larger decrease in deposition accounting for net bone loss, as suggested by other investigations. Thus, concomitant release of Pb from bones of lactating subjects with low blood lead concentrations on this background of high normal resorption was not large enough for detection.