Super Eco

Photo credit: Alexander Tundakov, flickr

Media Scare of the Month #142: Mother’s breast milk is full of environmental contaminants capable of causing harm to our babies. True? Yes—but nobody recommends not breastfeeding because of it. According to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, testing infants from virtually anywhere in the world today would uncover a body burden of industrial toxins including dioxins, PCBs, mercury, phthalates, pesticides, fire retardants, bisphenol-A (BPA) and other toxins.

But it’s not just breast milk that’s in danger: environmental toxins are everywhere. Because testing breast milk is a cheap and convenient way to look for chemical contamination, it is often used as an easy way to demonstrate the toxic load of our bodies overall. “Chemical residues found in breast milk are like the messenger, the canary in the mine, telling us about the body burdens found in everyone,” WABA relates.

Human milk is hands down the best bet for babies, even considering contaminants. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reminds mothers not to let media attention on environmental toxins scare them away from breastfeeding. “Breastfeeding is still recommended despite the presence of chemical toxins,” the agency reports. “To date, effects on the nursing infant have been seen only where the mother herself was clinically ill from an toxic exposure.”

Moms who are concerned about contaminants in human milk should not to stop breastfeeding their children, but rather advocate for reducing environmental contaminants worldwide. National advocacy groups such as MOMS–Making Our Milk Safe mobilize mothers across the country to increase awareness of environmental toxins and protect our families from their effects.