PFAS Exposure Leads to Breastfeeding Problems

Not only do PFAS forever chemicals cross the placenta and expose an unborn baby to industrial solvents while still in the womb; a new study reveals that a mothers' ability to breastfeed is also negatively impacted by this chemical exposure.

In June, experts, scientists, advocates and impacted community members from all over the world gathered at Northeastern University in Boston to compare notes and share information about the family of chemicals called PFAS, which includes the substance familiar to Mid-Ohio Valley residents as C8 or PFOA and the replacement chemical called Gen-X.

This family of forever chemicals was developed for the Manhattan Project. They were designed to last. And, so they do. The halflife in humans is on the order of eight years or so - more for longer chain chemicals. The damage to the environment is so extensive that experts estimate cleanup, if it were possible, could take 1,000 years.

Consider that the nation's rivers have been used as dumping grounds for industry for decades. It's estimated that millions of unsuspecting Americans are drinking water contaminated with the Teflon toxin and its ugly cousins.

While this is an enormous problem, we are just now discovering some of the impacts the widespread contamination is having on our highly exposed community. The information that came to light about breastfeeding was a shock.

If you are a young mother or if you know a young mother, chances are you have heard anecdotes about girls having serious problems making enough milk. It's a crushing experience that takes a serious toll on a new mother's confidence and mental health. Trying and repeatedly failing is hard on mother and baby. The battle can go on for hours, days or weeks - depending on the will of the mother, the health of the baby, and the environment of support for the pair.

The new mother feels deficient if she is unable to perform in this way. Yet, it happens all the time in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Never did I suspect that this, too, is a PFAS exposure related problem.

We have known for some time that an unborn child becomes exposed through the mother. Babies are born with higher exposure levels than their mothers. And, we knew that highly fluorinated chemicals also are delived to the child through breastmilk. However, it's worth noting that experts still believe breastfeeding is the best - even if the exposure is being passed along to the child.

But the information that came out of Boston recently was something unprecedented.

The preliminary results of a study from Denmark showed that PFAS in a mother's blood negatively impacts her ability to produce enough milk to feed the baby. Researchers said this production problem occurs even at the so-called normal averages found in the blood of Americans who do not live in the Mid-Ohio Valley or near another site that is emitting the carcinogenic family of chemicals. This result is seen at what scientists and researchers call "background" levels because they are fairly typical across the population. (Meaning PFAS exposure without consent is a factor for all Americans.)

Here in the Valley, because of the operations of manufacturing facilities, residents are faced with a much heavier chemical burden through not only drinking water, but also air, soil, produce, and who knows how many other pathways to exposure. While water filtration systems have been placed in some communities to reduce exposure, some significant areas have been left out. Take Parkersburg, for example. In any case, the existing filtration systems will not catch the Gen-X (C6) and may not work on the thousands of other compounds that fall under the PFAS classification.

In 2009, the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry issued an advisory that never quite made it to the public's awareness. It said that baby formula should not be made with the water. It further advised that young children, seniors, and those with compromised immune systems should not drink the water. That advice was given to the Mid Ohio Valley Health Department so that it might be passed on to residents. However, officials at the health department decided not to "scare" the public with this information.

Reducing exposure is recommended for everyone in as much as that can be accomplished when you're living in the toxic soup of industry.

Medical professionals need to be aware that their over exposed mothers are going to have problems. Protocols need to be adjusted to accommodate this information and to make the situation easier for mother and child.

For the rest of us who probably know and love at least one young mother, now that we have identified the problem, let's use this information to provide support, encouragement and options for our babies and their mothers.




#PFAS #exposedwithoutconsent #PFASisPoison




Column by Callie Lyons