Use of human milk in the assessment of toxic metal exposure and essential element status in breastfeeding women and their infants in coastal Croatia

Determination of low-level arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury concentration in breast milk of Hungarian women

“…Also, as it was mentioned, only 18.75% of the mothers had at least one amalgam filling. Non-occupational Hg exposure of humans is attributed to amalgam dental fillings [22,33] and fish and seafood consumption [3,34]. The lack of Hg detection in human breast milk samples of the present study can be explained with the facts that, in Hungary, fish and seafood consumption is very low [30] and there is a general trend to replace all amalgam dental fillings, the latter proved by the very low percentage (i.e.…”

“…The Pb concentration in clinical samples originating from women living close to roads with busy traffic was always larger [45]. Thus, 15 µg/L Pb concentration was registered in Spain [11] (attributed mainly to heavy vehicle traffic), while below 10 µg/L in Poland [46], Italy [35] and Croatia [22]. However, the Pb concentration was unusually low (<0.2 µg/L) in Slovenia [33] and Japan [36].…”

“…Low median values for Hg concentration (i.e. about 0.2 µg/L) in human breast milk have been reported from Italy [35], Slovenia [34] and Croatia [22], while higher (about 0.5 µg/L) mean values from Spain [11], Japan [36] and Greece [3]. In a recent study conducted in Brazil, the mean Hg concentration in human breast milk samples was 2.56 µg/L, while extremely high values reaching to 614 µg/L have been reported from Pakistan [37].…”

“…H 2 O 2 . Samples can also be freeze-dried [15,21,22]. In this latter case, the sample demand is lower [22].…”

“…Samples can also be freeze-dried [15,21,22]. In this latter case, the sample demand is lower [22]. Finally, the digested samples can be analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) due to its excellent limits of detection required (LODs) [23][24][25][26][27] compared to the worse ones offered by ICP-optical emission spectrometry especially for As.…”