Nurturing and breast-feeding: exposure to chemicals in breast milk

All chemicals that are not normal constituents of human milk should be considered undesirable contaminants. In the present review, the following substances detected in human milk are considered: persistent organochlorine pesticides; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB); polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF); polybrominated compounds; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH); trace elements; mycotoxins; nitrate, nitrite, nitrosamines; nicotine, caffeine, ethanol; and drugs. The levels of most of these substances found in human milk were within a range that would not constitute health hazards for breast-fed infants. For many of these, there is a comfortable safety margin. This applies also to organochlorine pesticides and PCB, particularly since, as a result of their discontinued use, the levels of these compounds have clearly declined in recent years. On the other hand, the aflatoxin burden mediated through breast milk, at least in certain tropical countries, appears to pose a definite health hazard. Detailed reference are given on the contamination of human milk with PCDD/PCDF which has to be considered as a matter of concern from the viewpoint of preventive public health. Although the low PCDD/PCDF levels found in the adipose tissue of infants indicate that there is no appreciable health risk emanating from these substances for breast-fed infants, appropriate measures to reduce the current rate of their emission into the environment have to be taken.