[pronut-hiv] bisphenol A in infant formula

["Ted Greiner" <tedgreiner@yahoo.com>]

Dear All,
   
  I submitted Rachel's letter below to the EWG and received the following response.
   
  Ted
  ______________________________________________________________
   
  Dear Ted, 
  
  I think the response you received confused 2 common contaminants, BPA and DEHP. You might ask Rachel if she meant DEHP, as was written in her email.
  

  As for BPA in breast milk...
  The only measurements of BPA in U.S. mother's breast milk is a method development paper by CDC with samples from 32 participants. The study found a average of 1.3 "free" BPA and 1.9 "total" BPA. High end measurements were 6.3 "free" and 7.3 "total." The free BPA measurement is really most comparable to BPA in formula, and ng/mL is roughly equivalent to parts per billion.
  

  The limited tests of liquid formula find an average of 5 and a high end of 11, 13, 17 ppb in formula. Therefore we conclude from this limited group that BPA concentrations in breast milk are lower than in the formulas we have tested.
  

  2 additional points - 
   We strongly recommend that all mothers breastfeed. As I'm sure your listserv is aware, breastfeeding provides innumerable benefits to both mother and child. However careful study of babies? toxic exposures indicates that it might be even more important for mothers who are concerned about their exposure to toxic chemicals to breastfeed their babies. These find that beneficial components of breast milk may offset the subtle impacts to brain and neurodevelopment caused by PCBs, DDT and other persistent chemicals. 
  

  Also, the presence of an industrial chemical in breast milk should never be used to condone its presence in infant formula or other foods. Every assurance must be made to protect children from avoidable sources of contaminants.
  

  -Sonya
      
Sonya Lunder
  Environmental Working Group
  sonya@ewg.org | www.ewg.org
  

  Sign up for the monthly EWG Bulletin: 
  
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  ____________________
   
------ "Rachel Stern" wrote:

Hi, Ted. Your posting got me curious. And
 alarmed.

I did look up the FDA report and it didn't seem
 to jive with the EWG's take. 
For example, BPA was higher in breastmilk than in
 formula. I just read the 
tables quickly, and not the 180+ page text, so
 I'm not sure if those figures were only from within
 the US, the US and Europe, or what. And because
 I'm not a chemist, am unable to judge their
 methodology.

Anyway, those figures should certainly not
 disuade a mother from 
breastfeeding, as I'm sure you agree.  Amounts in
 both breastmilk and fomula looked exceedingly
 small vs the bottom threshold of harm in rat
 studies which they said were daily 14 to 23
 milligrams/kilogram body weight in developing male rats, and
 daily 1088 mg/kg body weight in developing
 female rats.

Their figures for DEHP content were:  breast milk
 - median 0.062 
micrograms/gram (range 0.01 to 0.6 mcg/g)  vs
  liquid formula - median 0.006 microgams/g (range
 0.005 to 0.15 mcg/g)

Their estimates for DEHP intake by infants 0 to 6
 months of age were: 
breast-fed infants - daily 7.3
 micrograms/kilogram body weight   vs 
formula-fed - daily 5.0 mcg/kg body wt

Because these numbers are so tiny in relation to
 the estimated harmful dose, they don't seem that
 worrisome - either for formula or breastmilk.

My impression is that the main concern is for
 young babies, pregnant and 
lactating mothers who undergo medical procedures
 in which they may be in 
contact with pvc - like babies that are tube fed,
 catheterized, etc -  are 
exposed to DEHP. For such infants, exposure
 during the procedures is 
estimated at 130 to 6,000 mcg/kg. Also, I wonder
 if the higher levels in 
breastmilk are because some women were exposed to
 PVC, and in that case, 
maybe the figures are only valid for countries
 where such procedures occur 
more often.

Another concern - the use of electric breast
 pumps. I was wondering if the 
tubing and other parts of the machines that come
 in contact with milk are 
free of DEHP.  Because these pumps are costly,
 it's common practice among 
working moms I know to borrow used pumps. If they
 do contain DEHP, is 
leaching more or less likely with prolonged use.
 I'm assuming that there are regulations, and that
 the pumps are not problematic.  Please let me
 know about this.  Thanks. Rachel