Researchers from the Republic of Korea’s Sookmyung Women’s University College of Pharmacy have confirmed that a majority of infants are now being exposed to Bisphenol A (BPA) – a well-known endocrine disrupter – through their breast milk.
The researchers tested 325 mothers and infants from mostly middle class families in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) who were born within two weeks of the study. The researchers sampled the mothers’ breast milk and tested the presence of BPA in the colostrum. The researchers also tested the presence of two other endocrine disrupting phenols in the breast milks.
Together with this testing, the researchers studied the health of the mothers and their babies as well as the mothers’ diets.
The researchers found total and conjugated BPA within the breast milk in over 70% of the women. They also found free BPA within the breast milk of nearly 40% of the women.