Chemicals in air and mothers milk.

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Air in the home could affect infant health

Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:22PM ESThttp://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1322673820070213

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters Life!) - Compounds found in air in the

home could pose more of a health risk to breast-fed babies than

chemicals they are exposed to through their mother's milk, researchers

in the United States said on Tuesday.

They found that a nursing infant's exposure to gases known as

volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from indoor air was 25-135-fold

higher than from breast milk.

"We ought to focus our efforts on reducing indoor air sources of

these compounds," said Sungroul Kim of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School

of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.

VOCs are gases emitted from certain solids and fluids such as

paints, cleaning supplies, building materials, printers, glues and

photographic solutions.

Everyone is exposed to a least a trace of the compounds and their concentrations are higher indoors than out.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it has found levels

of about a dozen common organic pollutants to be up to five times

higher inside a house than outdoors, regardless of whether the home was

in an urban or rural area.

The health effects of exposure to VOCs vary depending on their

toxicity. Some cause no harm while others can lead to headaches,

nausea, fatigue, dizziness and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat

or damage to the nervous system or organs.

In a small study, Kim, his colleague Rolf Halden and Tim Buckley of

Ohio State analyzed milk samples from three nursing mothers living in

Baltimore on consecutive days.

They tested the milk samples for benzene, methyl tertiary butyl

ether (MTBE), and toluene which are emitted by automobile exhausts

other products and chloroform.

They also analyzed the same VOCs in air samples collected from within the women's homes.

"We were pleasantly surprised to see these relatively low

concentrations of VOCs in human milk," said Buckley, the senior author

of the study published online by the journal Environmental Science

& Technology.

"Especially for inner-city settings, which is where VOC levels tend to be the highest," he added.

Buckley noted that all of the women lived near busy roadways and

added that the level of traffic and the distance from traffic affect

the air people breathe.

 

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