Breast Milk not as "safe" anymore

was reading articles on detecting environmental substances and came across this article on how advance techniques has become for analysising toxic chemicals in our body. This specialty area is important for forensics like CSI where they try to find out as much as possible on the deceased and tracing the murderer from chemicals/substances from the victim's body.

In this article "Biomonitoring and Biomarkers: Exposure Assessment Will Never Be the Same" by Dennis Paustenbach and David Galbraith , there was a section to discuss about what you can find in the breast milk....

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Breast milk. Breast milk can often provide significant information about fat-soluble chemicals in the environment. Nearly all of the industrially significant fat-soluble chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants [polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)], and dioxins/furans can be measured in breast milk. Samples of breast milk are relatively easy to collect and may reflect historical exposures to lipid-soluble chemicals found in the environment. Diet plays a significant role, with many of the chemicals in breast milk arising from a mother’s consumption of fish, meat, or dairy products. These can contain small amounts of persistent, lipid-soluble chemicals coming from deposition of dust,
vapors, or ash emitted from incinerators and nearly every form of combustion, including automobiles and furnaces.

Exposures to chemicals around the home and in processed foods are also easily measured in breast milk (Kamrin 2003). One can postulate that the breast-feeding infant is at the top of this exposure chain. Because the infant has such a small comparative body mass and breast milk can compose a significant fraction of the diet for the first year of life or longer,
there has been considerable interest in understanding the potential effects of these chemicals in the developing infant. However, no documented adverse effects from infant exposures to typical levels of environmental chemicals
in breast milk have yet been identified. A recent workshop explored a number of issues surrounding biomonitoring, breast milk, and risk assessment (LaKind et al. 2005).

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So mums and mum-to-be, please be wise with your food intake when breast feeding your young infant, that barrier to remove toxins and germs from your child is not really that effective in today's world. The information given by the nurses and focus groups on the benefits of breast milk maybe outdated.

Have you ever wondered why so many more kids have allergies despite having breast-fed?