THL is collecting samples of breast milk to study exposure of mothers and children to environmental pollutants
THL has started to collect samples of breast milk. Women at Helsinki's Women's Hospital, the Kuopio University Hospital, and the Lapland Central Hospital in Rovaniemi are being recruited for the study.
The aim in studying the samples is to ascertain how Finnish mothers and children are exposed to environmental pollutants. Researchers are interested in, for example, dioxins, PCB compounds, certain fire retardants, fluoridated coating agents, and additives used in plastic.
“The results will help us ascertain how the exposure of Finnish children and adults to environmental pollutants has changed in recent decades, how nutrition and other factors affect exposure, and how exposure can be reduced further. The results can be utilised, for example, in providing nutrition advice for women who are pregnant or in the fertile period of their lives, and in promoting breastfeeding”, says Hannu Kiviranta, Research Professor at THL.
How can someone take part in the study?
Personnel at maternity wards inform mothers of the possibility of taking part in the study and offer participation kits to those who are interested. Recruitment has already begun in Kuopio and Rovaniemi. In Helsinki it will start in the coming weeks. The goal is to find 100 participants from each community.
“A new mother takes part in the study by collecting a total of 100 ml of breast milk over a period of several weeks in a sample bottle and filling out a survey on nutrition. The mother mails these to THL in Kuopio for analysis and they are told of their own results later. The milk may be collected only if there is milk left over from the child. Providing for the child's nutrition is the main priority”, says THL researcher Riikka Airaksinen.
Levels of environmental pollutants in breast milk have declined significantly
In Finland, the levels of environmental pollutants in breast milk have declined significantly in the past decades and their amounts are currently low.
The substances that can be measured in the study are chemicals that have spread extensively throughout the environment, which are enriched in the food chain. Fatty fish and fish products from the Baltic Sea are known to be an important source of exposure in Finland, but thanks to measures aimed at restricting their consumption, the levels of the substances in fish, as well as human exposure to pollutants have sharply declined.
The study of samples of breast milk which just began is a continuation of previous rounds of study. The World Health Organisation launched a worldwide study on environmental pollutants in breast milk in 1987, and when it came to an end, THL has continued researching the matter in Finland. Samples of breast milk have been collected in Finland in 1987, 1993–1994, 2000, 2005 and 2010.
Further information
Environmental pollutants in breast milk (WHO2020) (in Finnish)
Riikka Airaksinen
Researcher
THL
+358 29 524 6339
[email protected]
Hannu Kiviranta
Research Professor
THL
tel. +358 295 246361
[email protected]
