ROCHESTER, New York, June 9, 2009 (ENS) – During pregnancy, exposure to a toxic family of chemicals called dioxins harms the cells in rapidly-changing breast tissue, according to new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center. The researchers believe their findings, although only demonstrated in mice at this point, may explain why some women have trouble breastfeeding or fail to produce enough milk. This study begins to address an area of health that impacts millions of women but has received little attention in the laboratory, said corresponding author B. Paige Lawrence, PhD, associate professor of Environmental Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology at the medical center. “Estimates are that three to six million mothers worldwide are either unable to initiate breastfeeding or are unable to produce enough milk to nourish their infants,” Lawrence said. “But the cause of this problem is unclear, though it has been suggested that environmental contaminants might play a role.” “We showed definitively that a known and abundant pollutant has an adverse effect on the way mammary glands develop during pregnancy,” Lawrence said. …
Dioxins in Food Chain Linked to Breastfeeding Problems
