Benefits of Breast-Feeding in a Toxic World

Breast-feeding is a healthy choice, recommended by pediatricians because it increases babies' resistance to infections and decreases the risks of childhood obesity, juvenile diabetes, childhood cancers and allergies—topped off by a possible IQ boost. Still, despite these impressive benefits, less than 15 percent of mothers in the U.S. exclusively breast-feed for their baby's first 6 months. And, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only "fourteen states in the U.S. have achieved the national Healthy People 2010 objective of 75% of mothers initiating breastfeeding."

Alarming reports in the media do nothing to increase these numbers. On January 9, 2005, The New York Times Magazine ran an article by Florence Williams, whose breast-milk analysis revealed that she was feeding her baby small amounts of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of pervasive chemicals found in some fire retardants that have caused reproductive and developmental harm in lab animals. Advocates of breast-feeding acknowledge that these toxins exist in human breast milk but are quick to point out that it is still the best option. "I think that it is important to be aware and actively involved in reducing these risks in our environment," says Kathy Wells, registered nurse and certified lactation consultant with the Providence Maternal Health Center, "but the overall benefit of breast-feeding still significantly outweighs the risk."

Indeed, according to Adriano Cattaneo, Ph.D., of the Italian Institute of Child Health and co-coordinator of the Protection, Promotion and Support in Breastfeeding in Europe program, launched in 2004, breast-feeding may help counteract the effects of chemical exposure to fetuses, which is thought to be significantly more risky than exposure through breast-feeding. "Breast-feeding improves brain (cognitive, emotional, relational) development. Breast milk [is] a perfectly balanced food developed through evolution to serve the needs of the human brain." It remains unknown whether PBDEs cause brain damage in infants, but long-term studies of a cousin to PBDEs, PCBs, have shown that breast-fed infants developed fewer negative effects of prenatal polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) exposure. According to Cattaneo, "the breastfed infant will have better brain development indicators than the non-breastfed infant."