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Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 252 pp 97–129Cite as

Systematic Review of the Literature of Factors Affecting the Exposure and the Levels of Lead in Human Breast Milk

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Part of the book series: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ((RECT,volume 252))

Abstract

Human milk may sometimes contain chemical contaminants, which could have adverse effects on neonates or nursing infants. Lead (Pb) is of considerable interest due to its toxicity and occurrence. Furthermore, it has been suggested that human milk is a significant potential source of lead exposure to nursing infants. A systematic literature search in PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases was performed to identify relevant studies, published in English until 2017, that investigated and explored common factors affecting the level of lead in human milk among lactating women around the world. Forty-nine papers were rated and explored the effect of one or several factors on the level of lead in human milk from 28 countries and carried out over a wide time frame from 1983 to 2017 and through Europe, Asia, America, and Africa, reviewing more than 5,000 subjects. Place of residence, maternal age, stage of lactation, smoking habits, maternal dietary intakes, and parity were the mostly assessed factors among the studies and considered as the main factors affecting Pb levels in BM. Other factors were not studied well enough and considered minor because few surveys evaluated their impacts. However, the literature findings are very controversial.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Training and Research in Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

    Abha Cherkani-Hassani & Nezha Mouane

  2. Center of Doctoral Studies in Life Sciences and Health CEDoc-SVS, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

    Abha Cherkani-Hassani

  3. Team Research of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmacoepidemiology, Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

    Imane Ghanname

  4. Faculty of Health Sciences, International University of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco

    Imane Ghanname

  5. Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Aida Maria Benitez-Rexach

  6. Department of Pediatric Hepatology Gastroenterology and Nutrition-P III, Rabat Children’s Hospital, Rabat, Morocco

    Nezha Mouane

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  1. Abha Cherkani-Hassani
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  2. Imane Ghanname
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  3. Aida Maria Benitez-Rexach
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  4. Nezha Mouane
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Correspondence to Abha Cherkani-Hassani .

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  1. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Pim de Voogt

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Cherkani-Hassani, A., Ghanname, I., Benitez-Rexach, A.M., Mouane, N. (2019). Systematic Review of the Literature of Factors Affecting the Exposure and the Levels of Lead in Human Breast Milk. In: de Voogt, P. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 252. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 252. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/398_2019_32

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