Arsenic exposure to breast-fed infants: contaminated breastfeeding in the first month of birth

Abstract

Humans are exposed to heavy metals through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption. Exposure to these chemicals may be possible during lactation. Although breastfeeding has import benefits of physical growth and development of breastfed infants, it may be a source of exposure to toxicants. The present study was conducted to determine infant exposure to the arsenic via breastfeeding. The milk samples were collected from the 150 volunteering mothers three times during the first month of lactation after delivery. The average arsenic concentration in breast milk samples was measured by atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). The demographic parameters of lactating mothers were collected by a questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS 18 software. Arsenic was not detectable in 71 of 150 samples (47.3%). The highest arsenic concentration was 3.73 μg/L, and overall mean of arsenic concentration was 0.87 ± 0.66 μg/L. The daily infant intake of arsenic ranged in the 0.01–0.17 μg/kg of body weight, which is below the limit of daily permissible intake for adults. Our results showed the need to strengthen national food safety programs and to further promote avoidance of unhealthy foods consuming during pregnancy. Most of the study samples had detectable levels of arsenic indicate that there was maternal exposure prior to pregnancy, nevertheless, it is recommended that the toxic metal levels should be regularly monitored in biological environments.