Certain types of chemicals that are normally used for food packaging, stain-proof clothing, and paints build up in babies for every month the baby is breastfed, a new finding has found.
A group of researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health became aware that these toxic chemicals known as perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs) could enter into the baby during breastfeeding. But they did not know the extent to which the substance is transferred to the baby or if the concentration increased over time. PFASs in the body can impair the immune system and have been linked with cancer.
To study this, they recruited 81 children who were monitored from the time they were born until they were 5 years old. All children lived in the Faroe Islands in the North Sea and were born during the years 1997 to 2000.
The researchers examined levels of five types of PFASs in the blood at four stages of the baby's growth. They extracted the first blood during birth then another one by the time the babies reached 11 months. They obtained another blood sample for testing by 18 months and again when the children were 5 years old.
Since PFAS are transferred during breastfeeding, the researchers also monitored the levels of these 5 types in the children's mothers at the eighth month of pregnancy.
The researchers learned all types of PFAS can be transferred to the babies. However, babies who were only breastfed had elevated levels of the four types by as much as 30%. The levels of all five types fell once the mothers stopped breastfeeding. Babies who were breastfed and also were given formula had lower levels.
Although they do not want to dissuade mothers from breastfeeding, the researchers noted that there is a lack of regulations on PFASs.
