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Mother's Milk: Appendix 3: Participant info/photos
Twenty first-time mothers participated in this study. Each collected a breast milk sample between 7 and 100 days postpartum, with an average of 44 days. Ten of the 20 participants collected breast milk samples through hand expression. Ten participants expressed milk directly into the study jars using commercially available breast pumps.
The participants reside in 14 states, representing over a quarter of the United States including: California (4), Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts (2), Missouri, Michigan (2), Montana (2), Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Nineteen of the 20 study participants have spent the majority of their lives living in the US.
The majority of the study participants (18 of 20) are Caucasian; one woman is Vietnamese and another reported multiple races. The participant's ages ranged from 29 - 40 years of age with an average age of 33 years. Nineteen of 20 participants are college graduates. The women who participated in the study had a pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) range from 19.5 to 34.7 kg/m2 with a median BMI of 21.1 kg/m2. None of the participants were current smokers. Five women were former smokers.
The study participants report eating very little fast food. Several participants consumed little or no meat, fish or seafood. Eight participants reported that they eat three or fewer servings per week, though all but one consume diary products.
None of the women report atypical exposures to foam or plastic products in their homes, neighborhoods or workplaces that might contain PBDEs. Two participants reported that they had reupholstered furniture in their homes in the past 3 years. More than half of the women worked in occupations that required several hours of work per day in front of a computer. Three women report very little computer use.
Study Participants
 Rani and Samuel |
 Teri and Natalie |
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 Angie and Graceanna |
 Darcy and Katelyn |
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 Erika and Hannelore |
 Jennifer and Elijah |
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 Katrina and Ruby |
 Laurie and Connor |
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 Jenna and Stella |
 Leila and Max |
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 Margaret and Tavin |
 Susan and Luke |
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 Suzanne and Mckenzie |
 Tiffany and Samantha |