Study finds alarming levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in US mothers’ breast milk

A new study that checked American women's breast milk for PFAS contamination detected the toxic chemical in all 50 samples tested, and at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the level some public health advocates advise is safe for drinking water. "The study shows that PFAS contamination of breast milk is likely universal in the US, and that these harmful chemicals are contaminating what should be nature's perfect food," said Erika Schreder, a co-author and science director with Toxic Free Future, a Seattle-based non-profit that pushes industry to find alternatives to the chemicals. The peer-reviewed study, published on Thursday in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, found PFAS at levels in milk ranging from 50 parts per trillion to more than 1,850ppt. Though researchers are concerned by the findings, newborns are difficult to study so there has not been a thorough analysis of how PFAS affect them, said Sheela Sathyanarayana, a co-author of the study and pediatrician with the University of Washington. The study is the first in the US since 2005 to check breast milk samples, and shows an increase in the newer generation of PFAS, while older compounds that were phased out by industry are still present, and some at high levels. The study also analyzed breast milk data from around the world and found PFAS detection frequency is increasing. "The study provides more evidence that the PFAS that companies are currently using and putting into products are behaving like the ones they phased out, and they're also getting into breast milk and exposing children at a very vulnerable phase of development," she said.