title: Breast Milk Lead Levels in 3 Major Regions of the West Bank of Palestine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lead is a neurotoxic pollutant that is ubiquitously spread in our environment. Breast milk contaminated with lead poses a potential risk of exposing a recipient infant to lead.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary aims of this study were to evaluate the breast milk lead levels (BMLLs) in breastfeeding mothers in 3 major regions of the West Bank of Palestine and to investigate the effects of some sociodemographic variables on the BMLLs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Breast milk samples were collected from 89 breastfeeding mothers from the Nablus, Ramallah, and Jerusalem regions and analyzed for their BMLLs using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Breastfeeding mothers were interviewed and responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median BMLL was 4.0 µg/L, ranging from 2.0 to 12.0 µg/L. Breast milk lead levels in 19.1% of the samples analyzed were higher than the World Health Organization's safety limits of 2.0 to 5.0 µg/L for an occupationally unexposed population. Breast milk lead levels were significantly higher in breast milk of mothers who lived in cities and refugee camps (P < .01), had lower monthly household income levels (P < .05), lived close to paint shops (P < .05), lived in houses with peeling or chipping paint (P < .05), used eye kohl (P < .01), and worked in agriculture for a duration longer than 3 years (P < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breast milk lead levels were higher than the safety limits for occupationally unexposed populations. Authorities need to implement measures to eliminate or reduce lead exposure, especially in refugee camps and cities. Marketed eye kohl preparations should be tested for their lead contents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine An-Najah BioSciences Unit, Center for Poisons Control, Chemical and Biological Analyses, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine ramzi_shawahna@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ramzi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shawahna
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Ahed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zyoud
authors.affiliation: An-Najah BioSciences Unit, Center for Poisons Control, Chemical and Biological Analyses, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Jamela
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dwikat
authors.affiliation: An-Najah BioSciences Unit, Center for Poisons Control, Chemical and Biological Analyses, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Maram
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Helo
authors.affiliation: An-Najah BioSciences Unit, Center for Poisons Control, Chemical and Biological Analyses, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Bayan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yacoub
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
authors.forename: Hikmat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hilal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008877:Middle East; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead
keywords: Palestine; breast milk; breastfeeding; environmental; exposure; lead