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Mother's milk found to contain organochlorine pesticides
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by Suranee | June 4, 2009 at 11:06 pm
250 views | 22 Recommendations | 4 comments
A group of researchers have found traces of organochlorine pesticides in the blood and milk samples collected from lactating women in Anupgarh town.
JAIPUR: Now, it seems pesticides have contaminated even mother’s milk. Researchersfrom Rajasthan University have found an alarming presence of organochlorine pesticides in the blood and milk samples collected from lactating women in Anupgarh town in Rajasthan’s Ganganagar district.
Newborns exposed to the pesticides can suffer from memory loss, poor growth and other abnormalities.
Soni said newborns exposed to pesticides are highly vulnerable as their stamina and ability to concentrate get affected. They may also suffer from memory loss. “It also causes poor growth with several other abnormalities,” she said.
An article by Ruth M. Heifetz and Sharon S. Taylor revealed that human milk gets contaminated with pesticides such as organochlorines, DDT and chlordane since these chemicals can be stored for long periods of time in maternal body fat.
Fat soluble materials such as the organochlorines, DDT and chlordane, can be stored for long periods of time in maternal body fat. Body fat mobilization and turnover are increased during lactation and fat soluble substances may also be mobilized. Fat soluble substances may be released from fat during weight loss, which typically occurs during lactation."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 04:56 on June 5th, 2009
This is tragic to hear, the babies are so vulnerable and have no choice in the matter. I hope this gets rectified.
at 05:24 on June 5th, 2009
It is tragic Sara Star. But it's a good thing that the Rajasthan University had researchers who were able to detect this. I hope too that it gets solved soon.
at 06:45 on June 5th, 2009
Unfortunately there is nothing to stop this from happening. In the 1960s when India was dying from Famine, US researchers developed seeds which could grow in harsh conditions, thus stopping Famine in India, unforunately with abundant food, came prosperity, and population explosions, requiring more food, and more water and pesticides to grow this food, so the tradeoff is immediate Famine or a slow death from pesticide poisioning and cancers, Not an easy answer when the alternative is starvation.
at 07:28 on June 5th, 2009
It's really a shame that we have caused so much damage because we have relied on pesticides to grow our food. You're right, it does seem that there really isn't much that can be done to stop this from happening.