Arsenic in the breast milk of lactating women in arsenic-affected areas of West Bengal, India and its effect on infants

Abstract

Two hundred and twenty-six breast milk samples were collected from lactating women from 3 blocks of North-24 Paragans, one of the arsenic-affected districts of West Bengal, India. Out of 226 samples, only in 39 samples arsenic was detected. Urine, hair, and nail samples were also analyzed to know the arsenic body burden of the lactating women. Arsenic in drinking water was also analyzed. Principle component analysis (PCA) revealed that hair and nail arsenic was highly correlated with water arsenic concentrations, whereas arsenic in urine and breast milk did not cluster with water arsenic. Our present study indicated that among the lactating women who had high arsenic body burden and arsenical skin lesions, they had elevated level of arsenic in their breast milk. Arsenic in hair, nails, and urine samples of infants were analyzed, and the results showed significantly high-body burden of infants in those areas. PCA showed the age-dependent relationship between the hair and nail arsenic concentrations of the mothers and their babies.

Keywords:

• Arsenic
• breast milk
• lactating women
• infants
• PCA

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the field workers of the SOES, Jadavpur and all participates for their help. The authors also thank Pranab Kulkarni, student CEE, University of Houston for his help on the PCA. Financial support from SOES is gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

¹Of 226 breast milk samples, only 39 samples contained As above the quantification limit.

*WHO recommended guideline value for drinking water 10 μ g/L.^{[ 19 ]}

**Normal excretion of arsenic in urine range from 5–40 μ g/day.^{[ 20 ]}

***Normal level of arsenic in hair 0.08–0.25 mg/kg with 1.0 mg/kg being indication of toxicity.^{[ 21 ]}

^#Normal level of arsenic in nail 0.43–1.08 mg/Kg.^{[ 22 ]}

^$There is no normal level of arsenic for breast milk in the literature.

*Arsenic was determined by spiking 10 μ g/L of As(V) to milk sample before digestion.

**Correlation is significant at the 0.001 level.

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level.

*Of 211 women without any arsenical skin lesion, only 28 women had detectable amount of arsenic in their breast milk.

**Of 15 women with arsenical skin lesions, 11 women had detectable amounts of arsenic in their breast milk.