Overview
This Scientific Reports study measured 18 elements in human milk from 30 exclusively breastfeeding mothers in Poland and estimated infant exposure from measured milk intake. Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, tin, lead, and thallium were detected in all samples. Tin was above the WHO usual-level comparison in every sample, and lead was above that comparison in one-third of samples.
Key numbers
Table 3 reports human-milk element concentrations in ug/L for N=30:
| Element | N < LOQ | Mean +/- SD | Median (Q25-Q75) | Min-Max | Samples above source usual level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total arsenic (tAs) | 0 | 0.7 +/- 1.0 | 0.4 (0.2-0.7) | 0.07-5.31 | 36.7% |
| cadmium (Cd) | 0 | 0.2 +/- 0.1 | 0.2 (0.2-0.3) | 0.13-0.41 | 0% |
| chromium (Cr) | 0 | 1.3 +/- 1.0 | 1.0 (0.7-1.3) | 0.41-4.12 | 23.3% |
| total mercury (tHg) | 0 | 0.5 +/- 0.1 | 0.4 (0.4-0.6) | 0.30-0.80 | 0% |
| nickel (Ni) | 0 | 5.4 +/- 3.5 | 3.9 (3.0-7.1) | 1.54-14.49 | 0% |
| tin (Sn) | 0 | 5.67 +/- 2.39 | 4.985 (4.56-5.66) | 4.2-15.07 | 100% |
| lead (Pb) | 0 | 4.8 +/- 0.8 | 4.6 (4.4-5.2) | 3.66-6.96 | 33.3% |
Additional Table 3 means in ug/L include aluminum (Al) 305.3, Ba 2.84, Be 0.08, Co 0.07, Cu 323.7, Mn 2.47, Mo 1.19, Th 0.10, Tl 0.2, and uranium (U) 0.03. Vanadium had 90% left-censored results, so the authors did not calculate descriptive statistics for V.
The study reports mean infant milk intake of 502.1 +/- 58.8 mL/day and mean current infant weight of 4666.7 +/- 391.1 g in Table 2.
Methods (brief)
Mothers collected pooled 24-hour milk samples at 4-6 weeks postpartum. Samples were microwave digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), Cu, Mn, nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), Tl, and V were measured by ICP-MS using an Agilent 7700x system; mercury was measured by atomic absorption with a DMA-80 mercury analyzer. The paper reports method LODs and LOQs for all 18 elements in Table 1.
Implications
The source supports human-milk occurrence evidence and infant-exposure context for Poland. It should remain separate from infant formula or commercial infant-food benchmark pools. The arsenic and mercury results are total/source-reported values and cannot substitute for inorganic arsenic or methylmercury.
Related evidence
Update history
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