Mother learns of tainted breast milk

Gainesville Sun, Staff writer
Published October 2, 2003

When Angie Strother-Akhtar's daughter, Graceanna, was born seven months ago, she chose to breast-feed her, believing it was the best start she could give her baby.

She never suspected that by nursing, she was also passing along potentially dangerous levels of fire-retardant chemicals in her milk.

Then the 33-year-old Gainesville resident found a Web site advertising a research study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. The study was collecting samples of breast milk from women across the country and testing them for levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs. The chemicals, which are used to prevent fires in numerous everyday items, are known to cause developmental problems in test animals.

"This looked interesting and I wondered how and if I fit into the numbers," Strother-Akhtar said Wednesday. "I fully expected my numbers to be similar to those reported from studies in Europe. Of course, they weren't."

In fact, the levels of PBDEs in her breast milk were the fifth-highest in the group of 20 women (all first-time mothers) enrolled in the study - 178 parts per billion. The levels in the milk fat reported in the study ranged from 9.5 to 1,078 parts per billion. Strother-Akhtar, a graphic designer who works at home, said she was puzzled by the results. How did that level of PBDEs get into her body, she wondered.

"I don't drink, use drugs or eat a ton of meat. I don't work around chemicals," she said. "Basically, you'd describe me as 'clean living.' "

The results were even more surprising, she said, because like many residents, she regards Gainesville as an environmentally aware "green community."

The Environmental Working Group is not proposing that concerned mothers stop breast-feeding.

"The most important thing for women to take away from this is that breast-feeding is still the best option," working group spokesman Jon Corsiglia said. "There are still a lot of benefits of breast-feeding that outweigh the risk of the chemicals found in the breast milk."

Strother-Akhtar said she is an even stronger advocate of breast-feeding, given the results of the study.

"These chemicals are already in our bodies and being introduced to our children in utero," she said. "What else can we do besides breast-feed to try to fix whatever harm might have been done?"

The working group study, although small, appears to confirm earlier findings reported in Europe and in a study published last month by researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

What's most alarming, the authors of this latest study say, is that the levels of PBDEs appear to be increasingly present in our bodies and our environment.

Studies in mice and rats have shown that PBDEs can cause delayed onset of puberty, decreased sperm counts, learning impairment and hearing loss.

The levels being measured in people are 10 to 20 times less than those shown to cause developmental problems in lab animals, but whether the chemicals are potentially toxic to humans remains unclear. PBDEs are used in computer casings, carpets, marine lacquers and paints, fax machines, printers, cellular phones, lamp sockets, circuit boards and coffee-makers, as well as in the polyurethane foam used as stuffing for furniture, mattresses and car seats.

They are thought to enter the body through exposure to contaminated food, house dust and air, the study said. Levels of all PBDEs in house dust and sewage sludge in the United States are markedly higher than in Europe. Europe has chosen to ban PBDEs, effective next year. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency is evaluating alternative flame retardants.

That's not enough, in the view of the Environmental Working Group, which has called for more studies and a ban on PBDEs here. Strother-Akhtar agrees.

"I think something has to be done," she said. "I hope that a study of these chemicals stays in the forefront."