Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1999) and it was even suggested that the decline in average levels of DDT in breast milk
in most countries was strongly correlated with the length of time since DDT restriction.
The study from Australia indicated that following a substantial decline of OCP con-
centrations from the early 1980s to the 1990s, little decline could be observed since then
(Mueller et al. 2008). The distribution and time trend of organochlorine pesticide con-
centrations in human milk samples from Croatia collected in 1981-2003 are available.
Between 1981/1982 and 1987/1989, the concentrations of HCB, β-HCH, DDE, and total PCBs
decreased about 50%, while for the last decade, the concentrations have been decreasing
very slowly (Krauthacker et al. 2009).
Devi et al. (2011) reviewed the available data/information on OCP contamination of
breast milk in the female population of Hong Kong, China. Concentrations of DDT and
HCH in human breast milk samples from Dalian were similar to those from Hong Kong
and Guangzhou, while those from Shenyang were somewhat lower. In 1976, the concentra-
tion of β-HCH was much higher than γ-HCH, dieldrin, and HCB. Further monitoring in
1985 and 2002 demonstrated that organochlorine pesticide concentrations in Hong Kong
breast milk was found to be much lower than before. It demonstrated that the use of pesti-
cides in Hong Kong were lower and people were following the permissible limit according
to world health organization.
In a study in Mexico, the total OCPs showed a decreasing tendency with the number of
births (primipara and multipara and age ranks), but these differences were not significant
(Rodas-Ortíz et al. 2008). This conclusion was the same in a study of Tadevosyan et al.,
where no differences in pesticide content were detected between the milk of primiparous
and multiparous Armenian women (Tadevosyan et al. 2007). No correlation was found
between the levels of pesticide body burden and frequency of pregnancy or delivery com-
plications, infant gender ratio, birth defects, or infant weight and height. There was some
decrease of body mass and a statistically significant change of chest circumference among
the infants of mothers with detectable levels of OCPs.
17.8 Perspective and Recommendation
Human milk is the best source of nutrition for infants. Breast milk contains the optimal
balance of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins for developing babies, and it provides a range
of benefits for growth, immunity, and development. In the last few decades, the continued
efforts of scientists to measure environmental pollutants in human milk have been impor-
tant for defining the true toxic contribution of these chemicals to public health, especially
to the infant population's health. However, it also shows that there are several gaps in
current knowledge including the following: (a) insufficient information on the nature and
levels of contaminants in breast milk, (b) lack of consistent protocols for collecting and
analyzing breast milk samples, (c) lack of toxicokinetic data, and (d) lack of data on health
outcomes that may be produced in infants by exposure to chemicals in breast milk.
Additional data are needed on the chemical contaminants in mother's milk and other
foods and food consumption patterns of infants and children. To be nationally rep-
resentative, such an effort would need to include women of various socioeconomic
backgrounds and geographic locations. Comprehensive monitoring of the levels of con-
taminants in breast milk with standardized protocols for specimen collection and analysis
is needed worldwide. Only with more reliable and better standardized approaches to
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