Breastmilk contaminants and infant behavior

Conference · Mon Feb 26 00:00:00 EST 1990 · FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology); (United States)

OSTI ID:5891739

Worobey, J; Thomas, D A; Lewis, M ^[1]

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1. Rutgers, The State Univ. of New Jersey, New Brunswick (United States)

Recent work has shown that certain heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (p,p{prime}-DDE) can affect newborn behavior via transplacental exposure. In this study, a number of fluids were collected from a sample of mothers and infants, with gas liquid chromatography used to determine the levels of environmental contaminants in breastmilk obtained in the first postpartum week. Analysis of the first 15 cases revealed normal concentrations of metals, no detectable traces of PCBs, and detectable levels of heptachlor epoxide and p,p{prime}-DDE in breastmilk. No significant associations were found between metals and infant development, but p,p{prime}-DDE was inversely related to perceptual performance and motor scores at 2-1/2 years. These results suggest that contaminants in human milk may affect infant behavior beyond the newborn period, although prediction from other sources must also be considered.

• OSTI ID: 5891739
• Report Number(s): CONF-9104107-; CODEN: FAJOE
• Journal Information: FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology); (United States), Vol. 4:3; Conference: 75. annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), Atlanta, GA (United States), 21-25 Apr 1991; ISSN 0892-6638
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INFANTS
BEHAVIOR
METALS
PESTICIDES
CONTAMINATION
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
MAN
MILK
PLACENTA
PRENATAL EXPOSURE
AGE GROUPS
ANIMALS
AROMATICS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BODY FLUIDS
CHILDREN
CHROMATOGRAPHY
ELEMENTS
FETAL MEMBRANES
FOOD
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HAZARDS
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
MEMBRANES
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PRIMATES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
VERTEBRATES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology