Abstract: The House subcommittee on Health and the Environment published this report on dioxin contamination of milk. Testimony by FDS officials and industry spokesman concerning research conducted on dioxin contamination of milk from bleached paper cartons and action being taken to alleviate the problems included.
Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, or DLCs, are found throughout the environment, in soil, water, and air. People are exposed to these unintentional environmental contaminants primarily through the food supply, although at low levels, particularly by eating animal fat in meat, dairy products, and fish. While the amount of DLCs in the environment has declined since the late 1970s, the public continues to be concerned about the safety of the food supply and the potential adverse health effects of DLC exposure, especially in groups such as developing fetuses and infants, who are more sensitive to the toxic effects of these compounds. Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds in the Food Supply: Strategies to Decrease Exposure, recommends policy options to reduce exposure to these contaminants while considering how implementing these options could both reduce health risks and affect nutrition, particularly in sensitive and highly exposed groups, if dietary changes are suggested.
Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, or DLCs, are found throughout the environment, in soil, water, and air. People are exposed to these unintentional environmental contaminants primarily through the food supply, although at low levels, particularly by eating animal fat in meat, dairy products, and fish. While the amount of DLCs in the environment has declined since the late 1970s, the public continues to be concerned about the safety of the food supply and the potential adverse health effects of DLC exposure, especially in groups such as developing fetuses and infants, who are more sensitive to the toxic effects of these compounds. Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds in the Food Supply: Strategies to Decrease Exposure, recommends policy options to reduce exposure to these contaminants while considering how implementing these options could both reduce health risks and affect nutrition, particularly in sensitive and highly exposed groups, if dietary changes are suggested.
Chemical Contaminants in Human Milk contains a comprehensive, up-to-date global review of the contamination of human milk with environmental and occupational chemicals. The book covers many different aspects of this problem, including the extent and benefits of breast-feeding, the transfer of chemicals into breast milk, analytical methodologies used in human milk studies, the levels of chemical contaminants in human milk, and geographical variations and time trends in levels. The many different factors that can influence the levels of contaminants in breast milk are also discussed. Other important topics examined include human milk contamination due to exposure of the mother at the workplace and the risk to her baby, the intake of toxic chemicals by breast-fed infants, calculated intakes and official limit values, the toxicological implications of human milk contamination based on available data from animal experiments and human studies. The book concludes with an overall assessment of the current situation, together with recommendations for future work. Chemical Contaminants in Human Milk is a valuable source of information for pediatricians and other health professionals, policy makers involved with ensuring the health and welfare of infants and nursing mothers, nursing mothers and organizations involved in the promotion of breast feeding, and individuals and organizations involved with the study and control of environmental pollution and occupational hygiene.
Abstract: The House subcommittee on Health and the Environment published this report on dioxin contamination of milk. Testimony by FDS officials and industry spokesman concerning research conducted on dioxin contamination of milk from bleached paper cartons and action being taken to alleviate the problems included.
Dioxins can be found in almost every part of the environment, presenting an obvious health hazard. This report outlines the health hazards, and evaluates human exposure to, and intake of, dioxins in foodstuffs. It also sets out recommendations for measures to reduce contamination of food, and gives guidelines on risk management in foods.
Dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals in food pose a serious threat to human health. The biggest risks of dioxins are the poor degradability and the accumulation over time in fat cells of the human body. Products that contribute the most to human dioxin exposure are products containing animal fat, including dairy products. A dioxin contamination incident within the food supply chain requires a sequence of actions: testing, recalling and destroying the suspected food products, which will add up in costs, both directly and indirectly. Routine monitoring is a way to detect dioxin contamination as early as possible to prevent an incident. A financial impact model is used to calculate the financial consequences of a set of contamination incident scenarios. Based on the average settings of the Dutch consumption milk chain (= baseline), the financial impact equals 8,9 mln Euro a year under the assumption of 1 incident in 5 years. The financial impact is most sensitive to changes in the HRP (High Risk Period); with an increase from 7 to 14 days until detection the financial impact increased more than 3 times. This financial impact is used as a budget constraint for an optimalization model for monitoring systems.
This open access book reviews the trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in human milk and discusses the main findings of five global surveys that were coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from 2000 to 2019. Human milk was selected as core matrix for human exposure under the Global Monitoring Plan for effectiveness evaluation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Milk from well-defined groups of mothers was collected and mixed to form a representative sample per country. Datasets collected represent the largest global human tissues survey with a harmonized protocol, carried out in a uniform format for more than two decades. Altogether 69 countries participated in these studies between 2000 and 2015, and more than 40 countries participated in the study from 2016 to 2019. Divided into 5 parts, the book offers an authoritative overview of human milk biomonitoring; collates the harmonized sampling requirements and analytical methods for the identification and quantification of contaminants in human milk; examines the results of the WHO/UNEP-coordinated exposure studies, including the identification of selected chlorinated pesticides, dioxin-like compounds, industrial chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and chlorinated paraffins, polybrominated POPs and PFAS, among others; and traces geographic, temporal and cross-substance trends and correlations, and human health risks. The book finishes by providing the reader with the summary of the main findings and outlook from these studies, in which the comparison of concentrations found for the wide range of POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention allowed the identification of possible needs for actions and follow-ups in different countries/regions. This book contributes to the understanding of exposure to hazardous chemicals and pollution as addressed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals on Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3) and will appeal to environmental and analytical chemists, researchers, professionals, and policymakers interested in learning more about contaminants in human milk. Given its breadth, this book will also appeal to a broader audience interested in maternal and child health.
