Contaminants in human milk

There is a paucity of information regarding excretion of contaminants in human milk, due to experimental difficulties and until recently a general lack of interest. Because of the high fat content of milk and as its acidity is higher than that of plasma, nearly all liposoluble and basic agents consumed by the mother will be excreted in the milk. Distinction must be made between, on the one hand drugs and social toxicants such as smoking and alcohol, whose intake can be stopped or limited during pregnancy and lactation, and ecological toxicants present in a polluted environment to which the mother is exposed. Cases have occurred of heavy prenatal and postnatal intoxication of infants with hexachlorobenzene in Turkey and methylmercury in Iraq due to consumption of fungicide-treated seed wheat by pregnant and lactating mothers. Recent attention has been concentrated on contamination of milk with organochlorine compounds such as DDT and PCB's, that are found in many parts of the world. The heaviest contamination with DDT has been found in Guatemala, resulting in suckling infants consuming many times the Acceptable Daily Intake of this compound proposed by WHO, with unknown future effects.