Agrochemicals contamination in breast milk and implications for infant health

a review

Abstract

Introduction: Breastfeeding is one of the ways of eliminating persistent organic pollutants, also known as pesticides. This condition can have serious consequences on infant growth and neurological changes in breastfed and highly exposed babies. Objective: To evaluate the impact of contamination of human milk by pesticides and its implications for child health. Methods: the searches for this review were carried out in PubMed, Medline and Scopus. "Milk, Human", "Pesticide" or "Residue Pesticide" descriptors were used and a total of 34 articles were selected. Results: most studies have detected pesticides in human milk, especially organochlorines, in different concentrations. Controversial data has also been identified in relation to the low level of pesticides and low risk assessment for breastfed babies. Associations were found between the level of contamination and maternal characteristics such as number of pregnancies, age, occupation, social, health and food conditions; and deleterious effects on infants such as changes in child growth, microbiota and behavior. Conclusion: The concentration of pesticide residues in breast milk is correlated with maternal characteristics. the most exposed babies and those of managers who are more vulnerable may have harmful health effects, requiring vigilant pediatric evaluation. The practices of breastfeeding and minimizing the use of pesticides should always be encouraged.

Keywords: Breastfeeding; Agrochemicals; Human milk; Pesticides.