Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and aluminium concentrations in human milk at early stages of lactation.
BACKGROUND
Human milk is considered to be the best nutrition for all infants because it provides the optimal source of nutritional, immunological, developmental, psychological, economic, practical, and environmental benefits in both the short and long terms. To the best of our knowledge, few studies in Taiwan have examined the toxicant levels in breast milk and associated factors.


METHODS
The research was carried out over a 6-month period. Forty-five healthy lactating women, who delivered full-term newborns at our maternity ward, were recruited, and all participants had been living in coastal urban areas of mid-Taiwan for at least 3 years. One hundred and eighty human milk samples were collected on four occasions, which were classified into four lactation stages as follows: colostrums, transitional milk, early mature milk, and mature milk.


RESULTS
We found that lead, cadmium, aluminium, and arsenic concentrations were the highest in colostrums: 13.22 ± 3.58 ng/mL, 1.37 ± 0.94 ng/mL, 56.45 ± 22.77 ng/mL, and 1.50 ± 1.50 ng/mL, respectively. The results of lead, cadmium, aluminium, and arsenic determination in human milk samples demonstrated a trend of decline of microelement concentrations with advancing stages of lactation. We found that the infants of smoking mothers were exposed to more cadmium than infants of nonsmoking mothers (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
According to our findings, frequent routine sampling of breast milk is worthwhile. Prevention strategies including behavior modification and education on proper nutrition should be provided to women who are at high risk of toxicant exposure. In summary, breastfeeding is still generally encouraged and recommended.
Department of Pediatrics, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Hai-Hsuan
HH
Chao
Institute of Biomedical Nutrition, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: eillyguo@sunrise.hk.edu.tw.
Chih-Hung
CH
Guo
Department of Pediatrics, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Chung-Bin
CB
Huang
Institute of Biomedical Nutrition, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Pei-Chung
PC
Chen
Institute of Biomedical Nutrition, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Hsiu-Chuan
HC
Li
Department of Nursing, Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Der-Yun
DY
Hsiung
Department of Pediatrics, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: yukungchou@hotmail.com.
Yu-Kung
YK
Chou
D000328:Adult; D000535:Aluminum / Q000032:analysis; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D000535:Aluminum; D001151:Arsenic
aluminium; arsenic; cadmium; human milk; lead