=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #193
—August 8, 1990—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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HUMAN BREAST MILK IS CONTAMINATED.
If breast milk from American women were bottled and sold
commercially, it would be subject to ban by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) because it is contaminated with more
than 100 industrial chemicals, including pesticides. [1] FDA has
set limits on contamination of commercial milk by pesticides, and
human milk routinely exceeds those limits by a wide margin. (For
example, see Table 1.)
We do not want to discourage breast feeding. Breast feeding is a
highly desirable practice, despite the presence of toxic
chemicals in human milk. Breast feeding gives an infant immunity
against gastrointestinal diseases and respiratory infections; it
may also offer protection against food allergies. The emotional
bonding that takes place between mother and child can be
exceedingly important as well. [2] Furthermore, the alternatives
(prepared formulas) are all less healthy.
Still, it is important for Americans to recognize the
consequences of allowing the chemical industry (and, more
recently, the incineration industry) to expand unchecked, and
contamination of breast milk is one well-established consequence.
The problem is not widely acknowledged or often discussed,
perhaps because it forces us to ask ourselves, what kind of
people allow their infant children to ingest low concentrations
of a hundred industrial poisons with every mouthful of their
mother’s milk?
Scientists first discovered that human breast milk was
contaminated with DDT in 1951. [3] DDT, like many other
chlorinated organic chemicals, is soluble in fat but not very
soluble in water, so when it enters the body it is not easily
excreted and it builds up in fatty (adipose) tissue. The main way
that females excrete such chemicals is through their breast milk.
Breast milk contains about 3% fat (average) and fat-soluble
chemicals collect there. Unfortunately, this contaminates infant
children who breast feed.
(When examining data on milk contamination, be aware that
concentrations are sometimes given as ppm [parts per million] for
fat, or ppb [parts per billion] for whole milk; fat
concentrations are about 30 times higher than whole milk
concentrations, so, for example, 2.5 ppm in fat is approximately
equivalent to 75 ppb whole milk.)
The most extensive survey of the milk of American women was
conducted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1975. They
took samples from more than 1000 women, but analyzed them for
only a few pesticides. They found DDT in 100% of samples; PCBs in
99% of samples; dieldrin in 83% of samples. EPA says DDT,
dieldrin and PCBs are all “probable carcinogens” in humans.
There has been only one study of non-pesticide organic chemicals
in the milk of American women. [1] It found 192 organic
compounds, many of them well-known industrial poisons like carbon
tetrachloride and benzene (both known human carcinogens). We list
the 192 compounds in footnote 1. From reading the scant
literature on this topic, one draws the unmistakable impression
that further study would reveal more contamination.
Table 1 shows how grossly contaminated the milk of American women
is, based on just four pesticides. The first column names the
pesticide; column 2 gives typical levels of contamination
reported in scientific studies; column 3 gives the FDA’s “action
level” for each pesticide; this is the level at which the FDA can
(if it chooses to) take commercial cows’ milk off the shelves
because of excessive contamination; column 4 shows the allowable
daily intake of each pesticide for an adult (expressed in
micrograms of pesticide per kilogram of body weight). [There are
28 grams in one ounce; a kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.] The last
column shows the actual daily intake for a nursing infant in
America. It is clear that the actual daily intake by an infant
exceeds an adults’s allowable daily intake by anywhere from a
factor of 6 to a factor of 14.
No allowable daily intakes have been calculated for infants, but
it is known that infants are much more susceptible to toxic
chemicals than are adults because an infant’s kidneys, liver,
enzyme systems, and blood-brain barrier are not fully developed.
Furthermore, a newborn has very little body fat available for
storage; consequently, the fat soluble chemicals are circulated
in the blood throughout the body for a longer period and may
interfere more intensely with normal enzyme activity.
These disturbing data are one more reason why the U.S. should
begin now to institute a policy of “zero discharge” for all
industrial chemicals (see RHWN #154, #155 and
#187).
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Halogenated compounds: Chlorodifluoromethane (8%);
chlorotrifluoromethane (33%); dichlorodifluoromethane (16%);
chloromethane (16%); chloroethane (16%); trichlorofluoromethane
(58%); dichloroethylene (8%); Freon 113 (75%); methylene chloride
(75%); chloroform (58%); 1,1,1-trichloroethane (75%); carbon
tetrachloride (42%); trichloroethylene (75%); chloropentane
(16%); dibromochloromethane (8%); tetrachloroethylene (58%);
dichloropropene (8%); chlorobenzene (42%); chlorohexane (33%);
iodopentane (8%); 3-methyl-1-iodobutane (16%); chloroethylbenzene
(8%); dibromodichloromethane (8%); dichlorobenzene (75%);
chlorodecane (8%); trichlorobenzene (8%). Aldehydes: acetaldehyde
(33%); methyl propanal (16%); n-butanal (50%); methyl butanal
(16%); crotonaldehyde (8%); n-pentanal (58%); n-hexanal (75%);
furaldehyde (16%); n-heptanal (58%); benzaldehyde (75%);
n-octanal (25%); phenyl acetaldehyde (8%); n-nonanal (50%);
methyl furaldehyde (8%); n-decanal (16%); n-undecanal (16%);
n-dodecanal (8%).
Ketones: acetone (75%); methyl ethyl ketone (42%); methyl propyl
ketone (16%); methyl vinyl ketone (8%); ethyl vinyl ketone (33%);
2-pentanone (33%); methyl pentanone (16%); methyl hydrofuranone
(8%); 2-methyl-3-hexanone (8%); 4-heptanone (8%); 3-heptanone
(33%); 2-heptanone (50%); methyl heptanone (16%); furyl methyl
ketone (8%); octanone (16%); acetophenone (75%); 2-nonanone
(33%); 2-decanone (8%); alkylated lactone (8%); phthalide (8%).
Other oxygenated isomers: C4H6O (8%); C4H8O (16%); C5H10O (42%);
C6H8O (8%); C6H10O (16%); C4H6O2 (8%); C6H12O (16%); C7H12O
(33%); C7H10O (16%); C7H14O (16%); C6H6O2 (8%); C8H14O2 (8%);
C8H16O (16%); C7H8O2 (16%); C7H10O2 (8%); C9H18O (25%); C8H6O2
(8%); C10H12O2 (8%); C10H14O (8%); C10H16O (16%); C10H18O (25%);
C10H20O (16%); C10H22O (8%); C9H8O2 (8%); C11H20O (8%); C10H10O2
(8%).
Alcohols: methanol (8%); isopropanol (75%); 2-methyl-2-propanol
(8%); n-propanol (8%); 1-butanol (25%); 1-pentanol (33%);
à-furfuryl alcohol (16%); 2-ethyl-1-hexanol phenol (8%);
2,2,4-trimethylpenta-1,3-diol (8%); à-terpineol (8%).
Acids: acetic acid (16%); decanoic acid (8%). Sulfur compounds:
sulfur dioxide (8%); carbon disulfide (75%); dimethyl disulfide
(50%); carbonyl sulfide (8%). Nitrogen compounds: nitromethane
(8%); C5H6N2 (8%); C5H8N2 (8%); C4H4N2O (8%); methyl acetamide
(8%); benzonitrile (25%); methyl cinnoline (8%).
Esters: vinyl propionate (25%); ethyl acetate (8%);
ethyl-n-caproate (8%); isoamyl formate (8%); methyl decanoate
(8%); ethyl decanoate (8%).
Ethers: dimethyl ether (8%); dihydropyran (16%).
Epoxides: 1,8-cineole (8%).
Furans: furan (8%); tetrahydrofuran (8%); methyl furan (16%);
methyl tetrahydrofuran (8%); ethylfuran (16%); dimethylfuran
(8%); 2-vinylfuran (8%); furaldehyde (16%); 2-n-butylfuran (8%);
2-pentylfuran (58%); methylfuraldehyde (8%); furyl methyl ketone
(8%); à-furfuryl alcohol (16%); benzofuran (25%).
Alkanes: C3H8 (8%); C4H10 (50%); C5H12 (75%); C6H14 (75%); C7H16
(58%); C8H18 (58%); C9H20 (75%); C10H22 (58%); C11H24 (58%);
C12H26 (58%); C13H28 (25%); C14H30 (25%); C15H32 (16%). ALKENES:
C3H6 (16%); C4H8 (42%); C5H10 (25%); C6H12 (75%); C7H14 (75%);
C8H16 (75%); C9H18 (58%); C10H20 (50%); C11H22 (50%); C12H24
(8%); C13H26 (8%); isoprene (8%).
Alkynes: C5H8 (16%); C6H10 (8%); C7H12 (25%); C8H14 (25%); C9H16
(33%); C10H18 (16%); C12H22 (8%).
Cyclic: cyclopentane (50%); methyl cyclopentane (50%);
cyclohexane (42%); ethyl methyl cyclohexane (8%); C10h14 isomers
(8%); C10h16 isomers (other) (33%); limonene (75%); methyl
decalin (8%); à-pinene (8%); camphene (8%); camphor (8%).
Aromatics: benzene (75%); toluene (75%); ethylbenzene (75%);
xylene (75%); phenyl acetylene (8%); styrene (75%); benzaldehyde
(75%); C3-alkylbenzene isomers (75%); C4-alkylbenzene isomers
(50%); methyl styrene (16%); dimethyl styrene (42%);
C5-alkylbenzene isomers (16%); naphthalene (50%); C6-alkylbenzene
isomers (8%).
TABLE I: Typical levels of pesticides and PCBs in human milk in
the U.S., FDA Action Levels, Allowable Daily Intake, and Actual
Daily Intake of Breast-Fed Infants.
| Pesticide | Typical Levels (whole milk) | FDA Action Levels for whole milk (cows’) | Allowable Daily Intake (Adult) | Actual Daily Intake (Infant) | Actual Daily Intake by Infants over the Allowable Daily Intake for Adults |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dieldrin | 1-6 | 9 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 8 times higher |
| Heptachlor Expoxide | 8-30 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 8 times higher |
| PCBs | 40-100 | 63 | 1.0 | 14 | 14 times higher |
| Total DDT | 50-200 | 38 | 5.0 | 28 | 5.6 times higher |
Source: Walter J. Rogan and others. “Pollutants in Breast Milk,” NEW
ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Vol. 302 (June 26, 1980), pg. 1451, Table 3.
Descriptor terms: ddt; dde; pesticides; tolerance levels; risk
assessment; human breast milk; lactation; food safety; infants;
children; pcbs; heptachlor epoxide; allowable daily intake; adi;
zero discharge; heptachlor; carcinogens; dieldrin; surveys;
statistics; studies;