Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 1998 Feb;71(1):42-6.
doi: 10.1007/s004200050248.

Low-level arsenic excretion in breast milk of native Andean women exposed to high levels of arsenic in the drinking water

G Concha  1 , G Vogler, B Nermell, M Vahter
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Low-level arsenic excretion in breast milk of native Andean women exposed to high levels of arsenic in the drinking water

G Concha et al. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1998 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the excretion of arsenic in breast milk of lactating native Andean women living in a village in northwestern Argentina with high concentrations of arsenic in the drinking water (about 200 micrograms/l) and to assess the exposure of children to arsenic during the very first period of life.

Methods: The study included ten lactating women and two nursing babies. Hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS) was used to determine the concentration of arsenic in samples of human milk, drinking water, blood, and urine.

Results: The concentrations of arsenic detected in maternal blood (total arsenic) and urine (metabolites of inorganic arsenic) were high, averaging 10 and 320 micrograms/l, respectively. In subjects without known exposure to arsenic the average concentrations found in blood and urine are 1-2 and about 10 micrograms/l, respectively. The metabolites of inorganic arsenic constituted more than 80% of the total arsenic in the urine, which shows that inorganic arsenic was the main form of arsenic ingested. The average concentration of arsenic detected in human milk was 2.3 micrograms/kg fresh weight (range 0.83-7.6 micrograms/kg). Although data on background levels of arsenic in human breast milk are scarce, the present concentrations seem to be slightly elevated. However, considering the high levels of arsenic exposure in the mothers, the total arsenic concentrations measured in human milk were low. In concordance with the low concentrations of arsenic found in the milk, the concentrations of arsenic metabolites measured in the urine of two of the nursing babies were low: 17 and 47 micrograms/l, respectively.

Conclusions: The low concentrations of arsenic detected in the breast milk and urine of the two nursing babies in relation to the high level of maternal exposure to arsenic indicate that inorganic arsenic is not excreted in breast milk to any significant extent. This is a very important reason for long breast-feeding periods.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-