In the first US study of urinary arsenic in babies, Dartmouth College researchers found that formula-fed infants had higher arsenic levels than breast-fed infants, and that breast milk itself contained very low arsenic concentrations. News-Medical reports that the researchers measured arsenic in home tap water, urine from 72 six-week-old infants and breast milk from nine women in New Hampshire. Urinary arsenic was 7.5 times lower for breast-fed than formula-fed infants. The highest tap water arsenic concentrations far exceeded the arsenic concentrations in powdered formulas, but for the majority of the study's participants, both the powder and water contributed to exposure.
"This study's results highlight that breastfeeding can reduce arsenic exposure even at the relatively low levels of arsenic typically experienced in the US," says lead author Professor Kathryn Cottingham. "This is an important public health benefit of breastfeeding."
Arsenic occurs naturally in bedrock and is a common global contaminant of well water. It causes cancers and other diseases, and early-life exposure has been associated with increased foetal mortality, decreased birth weight and diminished cognitive function. The US Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum contaminant level for public drinking water, but private well water is not subject to regulation and is the primary water source in many rural parts of the US.
[link url="http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150223/Formula-fed-infants-have-higher-arsenic-levels-than-breast-fed-infants.aspx"]Full News-Medical report[/link]
[link url="http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1408789/"]Environmental Health Perspectives abstract[/link]