Consumption of Lipophilic Contaminants in Human Milk by Infants

Abstract

We evaluated several reports on the detection of nitromusks (artificial perfumes) in human milk The nitromusks found were separated by gas-liquid chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. However, the quantities reported as being consumed by infants were often questionable (Jensen, 1995). The investigators did not always a) obtain a representative samples of milk, b) extract and quantify the fat by a recognized, accurate method, or c) determine the amount of milk, hence fat, consumed by the infant. Some investigators gave almost no data on the milk, except to say that a sample was obtained. Reports on some other contaminants in human milk were similarly deficient. We have published a description of recommended extraction procedures in a paper presenting a detailed protocol for the processing of milk so as to determine the actual amounts of lipophilic contaminants ingested by the nursing infant (Jensen et al. 1997).