No abstract

BackgroundVitamin D deficiency during infancy may lead to rickets and possibly other poor health outcomes. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. Breast milk is the best food for infants but does not contain adequate vitamin D. Health Canada recommends all breastfed infants receive a daily vitamin D supplement of 400 IU; however, there appears to be limited current Canadian data as to whether parents or caregivers are following this advice. The aim of this study was to determine the rates of vitamin D supplementation among 2-month old infants in Vancouver and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.MethodsMothers of all healthy infants born between April and May 2010 were approached to participate. Telephone surveys were conducted with 577 mothers (response rate 56%) when their infants turned 2 months.ResultsOver half of the infants received only breast milk in the week prior to the survey. One third received a mixture of breast milk and infant formula and 10% received only formula. About 80% of the infants were supplemented with vitamin D at 2 months. Infants who received only breast milk were most likely to be supplemented with vitamin D (91%). Over 60% of the infants had a total vitamin D intake of 300- < 500 IU/d from supplements and formula and only 5% did not receive any vitamin D. Most parents were advised to give vitamin D supplement by health professionals, such as public health nurses, midwives, and doctors.ConclusionsAbout 90% of the infants received breast milk at 2 months of age. The vitamin D supplementation rate was 80%. Future studies are needed to monitor breastfeeding duration and vitamin D supplementation rates as infants get older.

No abstract

No abstract

Widely consumed vegetables are often cultivated in sewage waters with high nutrient levels. They can contain high levels of methylmercury (MeHg), because they can form MeHg from inorganic Hg in their young shoots. We determined whether the MeHg uptake and the MeHg formation in the shoots of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) were affected by the presence of a high nutrient level in the growth medium. Water spinach shoots were rooted and pretreated in growth medium containing 7% (low) or 70% (high) Hoagland nutrient solution; thereafter, the plants were treated with either 0.02 microM MeHg or 0.2 microM HgCl2 for 3 d. Half the plants were then analyzed for total Hg and MeHg. The remaining plants were transferred to mercury-free medium with low or high nutrient levels and posttreated for 3 days before analysis of total Hg and MeHg in order to measure MeHg formation in the absence of external Hg. The results indicate that nutrient level did not influence MeHg uptake, but that a high nutrient level reduced the distribution of MeHg to the shoots 2.7-fold versus low nutrient level. After treatment with HgCl2, MeHg was found in roots and new shoots but not in old shoots. The MeHg:total-Hg ratio was higher in new shoots than in roots, being 13 times higher at high versus low nutrient levels. Thus, MeHg formation was the same in new shoots independent of inorganic Hg concentration, since the total Hg level decreased at a high nutrient level.