Dioxin Pollution May Explain Why As Many As 6 Million Women Can't Breast-Feed Their Babies

The health benefits of breast-feeding are many -- everything from lower obesity rates to lower rates of asthma have been attributed to breast-feeding and other good nutritional habits early in life. For mothers, breast-feeding can actually lower the risk of heart disease, according to one recent study.

But as many as 6 million mothers worldwide are unable to either initiate breast-feeding or produce enough milk, leaving them and their children without the option of the most natural, nutritious diet available for the first months of life.

A new study suggests a novel, and disturbing reason why some mothers have trouble breast-feeding: dioxin pollution inhibits the normal growth of breasts during pregnancy. The effect was indeed profound: A 50% decrease in new breast tissue. In addition, dioxin altered milk-producing genes, resulting in fewer mature lobules and ductal branches which make and deliver milk.

There's little we can do to avoid dioxin exposure. Dioxins made news in 2004, when the chemical was used to poison Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, and Agent Orange is perhaps the best-known dioxin -- but dioxins more typically poison in tiny amounts slowly over time. Exposure has previously been linked to cancer as well as damage to the immune, reproductive and neurological systems.

Dioxins are a byproduct of incineration, and are spread widely through the atmosphere -- which means they rain down on farms where livestock graze and in oceans where they can contaminate fish. Dioxins can be found in the fats of meat, dairy products, fish, shellfish ... and humans.

A 2001 study found that beef and dairy products are the main contributors to dioxin exposure in the American diet. Some recommend choosing only low-fat milk, since dioxins accumulate in fats.

The EPA calls "uncontrolled burning of residential waste" the single largest source of dioxins in the environment today, largely because other major sources have been reduced. Laws against backyard burning of waste are typically adopted town-by-town or county-by-county, so you can reduce local sources of dioxin by supporting local laws to limit or ban outdoor trash burning.