Pesticides in breast milk--a public health perspective

Concern in the community about the risk of environmental hazards such as pesticides seems widespread. Pesticides have been widely used in agriculture to enhance food production and pesticide residues are now found in most human breast milk samples taken in industrialised countries. A breast milk survey on 158 women in Victoria was carried out during 1985/86 among women attending infant welfare centres. The survey showed that the mean sigma DDT and HCB concentrations had fallen by 62 per cent and 74 per cent respectively since the previous Victorian study in 1978. However dieldrin levels had not decreased significantly and most pesticide levels, as well as those for PCB, were above the acceptable daily intake levels set by the World Health Organization. The significance of these findings is still unclear. The response of governments and the media to this type of controversy is discussed in the light of the Victorian Breast Milk Survey.