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Weight Change During Lactation Does Not Alter the Concentrations of Chlorinated Organic Contaminants in Breast Milk of Women with Low Exposure

Department of Nutrition and Foodservice Systems, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170 USA.

Ruth A. Whitehead, MS, RD

Carolinas Hospital System, Florence, SC.

Megan A. McCrory, PhD

Energy Metabolism Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA.

Laurie A. Nommsen-Rivers, MS, RD, IBCLC

Department of Nutrition, University of California at Davis.

Scott Mabury, PhD

Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto.

Kathryn G. Dewey, PhD

Department of Nutrition, University of California at Davis.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to evaluate whether a loss of body fat during lactation between 4 and 20 wk postpartum increases the concentration of environmental contaminants in breast milk. We examined this relationship in two different cohorts of exclusively breastfeeding women: (1) California women with low exposure to contaminants (n=O0 whose weight was stable [mean change, 0.0 0.2 kg] and n= 1 who lost weight [mean loss, -4.1 ± 0.4 kg]) and (2) Hispanic women (n=30) who had recently immigrated to North Carolina, primarily from Mexico, and were presumed to have a higher prior exposure to contaminants. Breast milk samples were analyzed for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and DDT and its related products. There was no significant relationship between change in body composition and change in milk contaminant concentrations in either California or North Carolina women. Concentrations of HCB were similar between the California and North Carolina women, but those of DDT and related products were higher in the North Carolina subjects. Results suggest that moderate weight loss in lactating women with low exposure to environmental contaminants does not increase contaminant concentration in breast milk.

Key Words: lactation • weight loss • environmental contaminants • breast milk

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