Breast milk samples from mothers in Seattle contain alarming levels of dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals, including BPA, BPS, melamine, cyanuric acid, and triclosan, new peer-reviewed research has found.
The chemicals present a serious risk to infants because they likely interfere with hormones that are critical to newborns’ proper development, and have been found to be harmful at very low levels of exposure. About 92% of 50 samples were contaminated with at least one of the anti-microbials or plasticizers for which researchers checked.
just gonna drop this from the article:
Babadi emphasized that breastfeeding remains the healthiest choice for infants when possible, because it is the most nutritious and generally the safest option. Many of the same chemicals are also found in formulas. However, Babadi added that the study’s results underscore a “widespread, systemic problem” because chemical companies are so widely using the compounds, and regulators are failing to rein in their use.
The study’s authors note a limitation in its small sample size. It also included mothers who are broadly more educated and higher-income. Some of the compounds were found at levels below the World Health Organization’s tolerable daily intake level, the study noted, but still at levels that previous research has shown may cause disease.
While taking steps like not buying plastic can help mothers avoid the chemicals, the compounds are so ubiquitous in consumer goods that people “cannot shop their way out of this,” Babadi said.
The results come as the Trump EPA launches a multi-pronged attack on chemical regulations. It has moved to undo limits on many toxic chemicals and carcinogens in consumer goods or water. It has also attempted to weaken the regulatory process, while Congress is considering gutting the nation’s laws around toxic chemicals.
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