Document OEV3xw6rBoN1qYBOdym62wJ3v

( ah ____________ jfc-r November, I960 * Nutrition Action Page 10 DE)2 219R) pft*f Ma a_ . it v \/ I v;; \x&" / H v ~zrY 0V'U._ ' \ ,-> \ \ a _________'*'/ H rant milk, our species' nutritional link with the newborn, I* polluted. Thai new* came a* a shockbockIn W7 when toxic Industrial chemicals were found In virtual^ all samples of mothers' mflk tested by the Environmental Protec tion Agency IEPAI Polychlorinated biphenyls--the noto rious PCBs--had seeped Into our food drain and in a acant halfcentuiy become an extraordinarily widespread chemical contaminant. , To environmentalists, nutritionists and progressive healthatfcocalss this news was a devastatingblow. Just as America wasweening Itselfoffbottle-feedingand artificial supplements, the purity of the "ideal food" seemed seriously compromised.. The publfc learned that PCBs--shown to causecancer In laboreloiy rats and mice--were widespread In the natural environment Air, water, soil, plants, and animals weresi touched.Coincidentally, a studykoratheUniver- shy ofWisconsin Primate Research Center reported that oEbpringofmonkeys nursedwith PCB-laden milkexhibit ed skin dfeordet s. showed signs of hyperactivity, and appeared to have learning deEcienclei. Within a year, three of the six Infent monkeys had dtod. The public outcry then, as now, was one of anger mixed with frustration. No woman can quickly or totally cleanse her system of this toxic Industrial product Nor can she totally avoid ingesting some amount of the tab, stance from the food she eats. People slowly resitted that foture genaraHosis ware deedned So be chemically"branded"with one ofthemost Male and persistent synthetic chemicals aver Invented. The PC* tragedy became the classic example of what happens whan tonic chemicals are let loose In the envin erwnesu without strict governmental controls. Rut the possible consequences of PCBs' effects are compounded for inbrds who breast hod Rwaarrh has hewn that hreasl-feedlng lands to pass on higher con centrations ofPCBs and other toxins than had existed In the mother. As a woman lactates, she draws on nutrients PCBs and Breast Milk Mothers Reconsider Choice of Nursing Over Bottied Formulas Given PCB Threat By Marcella R. Mosher and Greg Moyer HONS 012169 Mend In her buy tissue. And It le in these cells where the peMulanl accumulates. Ones the PCBs get into the blood, they quickly Cnd theirwayIntothe mother's milk. Ironically, one ofthe best methods tor excreting the poisons Is through breast milk. TheWisconsin primate stuffy showed that It tookonly three months tor the breast-tod monkeys to reach the contamination level of their mothers. By the end of the lactation period, the levels In the babies had farexceeded the levels of thejmothers. . . __ . _ _ . Aware of this new scientific information parents are put In the position of gambBng with their Infant's well being. A mother can elect to breast-feed ghien the ample nutritional, sensory, and psychological benefits, but risk exposing herbaby to highertowels ofPCBs. Orshecanopt for bottle-feeding and settle forthe lower nutritional con tent ofthe supplements in order to guard the tnfont front, the toxins. Hew Did It Happen? PCBs belong to a group ofchemicals known as chlori nated hydrocarbons. This highly stable organic com pound arrived on the scene In ttXT when Theodore Swann, of the Federal Phosphorus Company, first used biphenyl in therefiningoflubricatingolle.Twoyearslater, Swam invented polychlorinated biphenyls and add the process lo die Monsanto Company. - since ISSS. MS billion pounds of the stuffhave been Otonufectured faruse In this country.Overhalfofel PCBs ever made are still In use. though the ItTfi Toxic Sub stances Control Act snowed EPA to order al ftulhor pro duction halted.About 10 pareonl ofth*rest lies In dump* lendfiMs. safe water, and faring organisms. The EPA esti mates that about 10 million pounds contaminate the hio- system each year through seepage spIBs, and evapora tion. Foryean PCBs were routinelydischargedintorivera, streams, and sowars. In Its 10-yearhisloty, Indusljy has found noshortageof uses for this versatile material. II bums on|y at very high temperstures, conducts heat well reftisae to tfissoka ki water, and resists corrosivechemicals. On|yin fetewigthe PCS molecule enter solution. The compound has been .--11- rT-|-t-i-p f-rm trsnifnrmnrs end pimas taporl tors, adhesives, washable wall coverings upholster** materials, and Bameproofera to early versions ofcarbon less copy paper. PCBs are actually many times more toxic and much slower to break down Into less hahnIUI forms than the better known Insecticide pollutants: DOT, cMontonet cHekirin, and mirex. The toxic ellect ofthe biphenylswas first seen In 1043 among workers handBng aleckleal equipment who had developed skin leatone and Brer damage. In taefi, PCBs were found In birds in toysdsn. PCBs created more headlines In the aariy IBTBswhan striped bass caught In the Hudson River near Mew York City registered dangerously high concentrations, ay 1>74. the U.S. Department ofInterior's Pish and WUdtiJe Service Identified PCBs In 30.2 percent offreshwaterfish sampled across the entire United States. Each step up the food chain lends to concentrate the toxins. This process Is known as "bto-sccuomlelion." For example, fish have been tfisewerod with PCB levelsmany million times that oflheirwatery environment. Also, cow's milk contains a much higher PCB level than the corn on which the animal feeds. Breasl-foetfing, In effect, sends bio-accumulation Into overtkive. Who Are the Victims? It falls to the tiniest and weakest members of the human race lo withstand the yelest concentrations of PCBs. The studies of Dr. lames Allen, former^ of the Wisconsin PrimateCenter, and new research rtsltlfing die transfer of PCBs through breast mBk underscore the dangers for the newborn In a poat-PCB world. But another category ofvictims include those people exposed by accident or through occupation to unusually high dotages of PCBs. The real Hfe experience of a Japa- MONS OlikTO November, 1980 Nutrition AcUon Page 12 ) Regulators Mum on Risks ' In It* report to the nation, ,thep"ttBO*' General's _. ffe#l% Pfeepir barely acknowledge* the PCB dweat ' In mother's mOk while endorsing breast-faerfing!' Chapters on heahhy Infante, fnpinqr^iMUni' care mala nomention of the tradofoA and riekaof 4D.`_rMR*nF^aa.n,f, ... . .-v a . pi Wfe.*:&fSZrii++** - Oofy In a chapter on toxic aubsUncesis there a briefdescription ofthe PCS problem. HeHicludeeL.V "PCBe hare boon found In Oaau^aofhunina ami ln ' thaRafikofminingmother*.When fad axpotiMnul-.. b to nutting monkeys. PCBe havi lod_io feriou?^ InRiry of offspring" Period No nttbanrOaidadonaV No advisories.. Mm oonlaclad a spokesperson bvthfflM'gedh -* CraeraTaOBce aaldthat strongerwernlngewfarehot .r appropriate until other agenclca tn the gwemmcrU.. die a hm poaMon on the Wb euggeat. Instead, that therlaka bebhed and/' rarloua studies begin bnroodto|^y^^^^3: more quickly. Rut with this caveat In mind one can com pare Ihe levels of PCBs Ingested fay a nursing Infenl and those which were shown to Act the health of the monkqya- PCB Contamination in Braast Milk Sublet Toxins In milk Monfcay 16 ppm PCBs on a tet ba ste. fToxtcolootcal aftect obsarvadal Wteconsfn Primate Cantef) OontaasInaMnn by walfM* 64 mlcroyams of PCB par bNoprom of oouy wops. Infant (human) 1.6 ppm PCBs on a fat b- 10 mlcroyams of is. (EPA natfonaf svfSflt) PCB par hHogram of body anight Intent (human) 10.6 ppm PCBs on a (at baste. (Worst cast uncovsrsd by EPA study) W microprams of pens pat Mooram of body wsIqM. neae community serves aa a tightening example of the OMoaoma power packed In this toxin. In lace, raakhmte on the Japeneae Island of Kyushu unwittingly etc large amounu of PCBe when a cooling pipe leaked Into a vat ofriceoil at a feqd processing plant. The levelofcontamination(2000 to 3000 parts permllbonl reached too limeswpal ia considered safebythgll-g Fopd and Drug Administration. Officially. 1j*1 people con tracted the "rice oil disease" characterised, by acno-Ute rashes, headaches, nausea, diarrhea, lose of hair, has of Bbidcx fctigus. numbness, and manstmal disturbances. Thineen children ware bom to PCB-exposed women. One taluswas stillborn, fourwere small forgestational aget ten had darit akin pigmentation four had pigmented gums, nine had con|unctMtiis'Inflammation ofthe mem brane around the ayek end eight had neonatal Jaundtee. Mneyears afterthe accident, a follow-upstudyofsome of the children breast-fed by exposed mothers showed "sight but dnicsUy Important neurological and devel opmental Impairment," according lo e report of the reseerch prepored by Or. Walter J. Ragan of the National Institule of Environmental Health Sciences, and others Alena rhesus monkeys fared tttllebetter. His reeeerch Involved feeding controlled amounts of PCBe to female mostkryt. Their olbpring oxhiblled the same eldn dfeordsrsestrericllmsoflhericeoa dlseers'Thebebymotr bsys falhdlomake thedevslopmenul progress shown by ths control pvop and several died si an earty ags. A sturdy led by Dr. Hlrokadsu Kodama of Nagoya. Ja pan Rnde comparable elects in humans. He dfeccvered that methartwith average exposure toPCBs are stil Mkc|y to peas on levels higher then Iheir own to mining off spring tiianka to bio-accumulation. SNR. some researchers caution spinet making direct compariaant between monkeys and humane, becauae the monkgys ham leas aubcuuneous ht in which to store the PCBe. In ths animals, the toxins assault the vital organa pwr%aCwtMeMB*iitBeMrSui rMmaatfkoroyWmnSwHwaamrnris*M.Bc"rMsinnsktsMM1JitBWM*>isrkks|tma<n)mBiiitapstmnasitrBaSpMB. ior.faNMarlsMsaipiiasriRitsa>MitMe HiBtoy Thi LtmBi if CbMO", chiptet WiBm torBuomlrn teak. tBMBfTw teTPlBBc IMMPl. The average exposure Infanta receive when adpieted farbodyweight ia one-sixth that shown toadverselyaffect the baby monkey's health. In the wont eaae bund by EPA'anationwide sampling a human Infant was mceWng virtually the same dose as Ihe monkey. NorroaBy, rsgtdato y agencies use a safety factor-of100 to seta ~iafc~ stand ard forhumans basedon theresults oftheanimal atudfcs. Herat Ihe concentrations are on tl same order ofmpetude. If not actually equivalent when translated to the common denominator of mtoopaim per Momam of body weight The EPA figures are shocking In another sense: the average levels oTPCBs In humanfaroael tuflkla sevenUmea higher than the amount permitted in cow's mfik by the Pood and Drug Administration. And It la about ten dance what the PDA recommends aa an acceptable deify aRowance far Infante. In a telephone Interview, Allen underscored the need forparentsand the pediatrician loknowabout thephysio logical changes that may be occurring In Infenla exposed lo high levels of PCBs He said autopsies of the monkeys Indicated abnormalities of Ihe Vmptr system, bon* mar row, thymus, and cortex. In short, ha saw irregularitiesIn some ofthe organa moat Important tonormalgrowth and development. Despite these ominous signs. Allen does not suggest women return to bottle-feeding their babies: The mlues of breast-feeding outweigh the deleterious Am* he said "I would advise my wife lo breast feed unless wo Mved In en area of high exposure lo PCBs. " -------------------------------------------- HONS 012171