Toxins in Breast Milk?

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Breast milk toxin study troubles nursings moms," by Sara Shipley--

A growing number of studies have found industrial chemicals in human breast milk. Dioxin, PCBs, flame retardants and pesticides such as DDT tend to concentrate in the rich, fatty fluid, giving vulnerable infants a dose of chemicals associated with cancer and hormone malfunction. Mercury and lead, two potent neurotoxins, also can pass through breast milk.

Public health officials worldwide say that the benefits of breast-feeding still far outweigh concerns about pollution, and that antibodies passed from mother to child may help counteract the toxins' detrimental effects.

"The bottom line is, mothers are never encouraged to stop breast-feeding," said Katy Lebbing, who manages the breast-feeding information center at LaLeche League International, based in Schaumburg, Ill. "All these researchers are trying to say is, we live in a contaminated world and we need to clean it up."

--Posted by Illinois personal injury attorney T. Evan Schaeffer of Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C.