Cadmium, lead and mercury in human milk from Slovakia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate Cd, Pb, and Hg levels in the breast milk of 158 lactating healthy women who were not occupationally exposed and living in eight environmentally different polluted locations of the Slovak Republic. Levels of these metals were examined in relation to selected parameters, such as: location, mother's age, parity, number of mother's teeth fillings, newborn's gender and birth weight, and smoking habits in the family. Cd and Pb levels in human milk and reconstituted infant formula were determined by GFAAS. Hg levels were measured by amalgamation technique AAS. The average concentrations of Cd, Pb and Hg in breast milk samples, taken on the 4th postpartum day, were 0.43, 4.7 and 0.94 µg/kg, respectively, and those in infant formula (n = 10) were 0.40, 5.0 and 0.25 µg/kg, respectively. Dietary weekly intakes of Cd, Pb, and Hg from breast milk and infant formula in newborn babies were also estimated. Whereas the calculated average dietary intakes of Cd, Pb, and Hg in newborn babies from breast milk and infant formula were all far lower than the appropriate PTWI values recommended by WHO/FAO, two individual breast milk samples for Pb and one breast milk sample for Hg exceeded the PTWI values. Regarding the studied parameters, only the active/passive smoking of the mother at home significantly increased Pb levels in breast milk and amalgam teeth fillings increased Hg levels in breast milk.

Keywords:

• Metals
• breast milk
• infant formula
• dietary intake

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Slovak Science and Technology Assistance Agency grant (APVT-21-025602) and the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. The authors gratefully acknowledge Lubica Palkovicova, MD, PhD, and the staff of the Department of Environmental Medicine as well as the physicians in the eight regional maternity hospitals for their co-operation. Also, the authors are grateful to all the women who volunteered to participate in the study. The authors wish to thank Mrs Zuzana Husekova and Mrs Anna Witkovska for technical assistance and Mr Gregory Soulliere for the linguistic corrections of this paper.