Contaminants in milk

New York has experienced a rather widespread breakdown in housefly control with the use of DDT. Schwardt of the Cornell University staff first noticed this failure of DDT in 1948. In 1949 the fly problem was very bad. Farmers, remembering the exceptional control of the past few years with DDT residual sprays, were greatly disturbed when DDT was first withdrawn from use in dairy bar ns because of the danger of DDT contamination in milk. Methoxychlor under conditions in 1949 did not measure up to the performance of DDT in other years neither did DDT. Lindane (gamma isomer of hexachlorocyclo-hexane) has been hailed by many dairymen as the successor to DDT, and by some farmers the question is raised— What is the successor of lindane to be ... 

High Safety Factor - Authorities have approved Lindane for lice and mange control on dairy cattle. Shows no contamination in milk when properly applied.. . . Even used by dermatologists for human itch, lice and scabies. Not cumulative and practically odorless. Any taken in by a warm-blooded animal is eliminated. 

The types of compounds that are of concern as contaminants are chlorinated insecticides, organophosphates, herbicides, fungicides, fas-ciolicides (phenolic compounds administered to cattle to control liver flukes), antibiotics and sulfonamides, detergents and disinfectants, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Contaminants in milk have been reviewed by Kroger (1974) and Snelson (1979). In several cases, allowable levels for specific contaminants in milk have been set by the World Health Organization. Surveys have seldom revealed levels in excess of such standards. 

Rogers, W. P. and Pont, E. G. 1965. Copper contamination in milk production and butter manufacture. Aust. J. Dairy Technol. 20, 200-205. 

Dhaliwal, D.S., 1990. Pesticide contamination in milk and milk products. In Nriagu, J.O., Simmons, M.S. (Eds.), Food Contamination Arom Environmental Sources. Wiley, New York, pp. 357-385. 

Brandon, D.L., Korn, A.M., Yang, L.L., 2014. Immunosorbent analysis of ridn contamination in milk using colorimetric, chemiluminescent and electrochemiluminescent detection. Food Agric. Immunol. 25, 160-172. 

Human exposure to environmental contaminants has been investigated through the analysis of adipose tissue, breast milk, blood and the monitoring of faecal and urinary excretion levels. However, while levels of persistent contaminants in human milk, for example, are extensively monitored, very little is known about foetal exposure to xenobiotics because the concentrations of persistent compounds in blood and trans-placental transmission are less well studied. Also, more information is needed in general about the behaviour of endocrine disruptive compounds (and their metabolites) in vivo, for example the way they bind to blood plasma proteins. 

Lederman SA. 1996. Environmental contaminants in breast milk from the central Asian republics. Reprod Toxicol 10(2) 93-104. 

Lutter C, Iyengar V, Barnes R, et al. 1998. Breast milk contamination in Kazakhstan implications for infant feeding. Chemosphere 37(9-12) 1761-1772. 

Because of the possibility that the herbicide alachlor could adulterate food if either poultry or livestock consumed contaminated materials, Lehotay and Miller evaluated three commercial immunoassays in milk and urine samples from a cow dosed with alachlor. They found that milk samples needed to be diluted with appropriate solvents (1 2, v/v) to eliminate the matrix effect. One assay kit (selected based on cost) was also evaluated for use with eggs and liver samples from chickens. Egg and liver samples were blended with acetonitrile, filtered, and diluted with water. Linear calibration curves prepared from fortified egg and liver samples were identical... 

Schechter et al. (7) in their studies on DDT in milk found that interfering extractives are largely removed by treatment with strong sulfuric acid. Furman and Hoskins (2) found the same treatment effective when hexachlorocyclohexane was the contaminating substance, and it has been applied in later work to numerous extracts of plants and animals. The procedure now used when either DDT or hexachlorocyclohexane is suspected is as follows ... 

In a review of data on occupational chemicals that may contaminate breast milk (Byczkowski et al. 1994), it is stated that lead may be excreted in milk in amounts lethal to the infant and that the metal may be mobilized from bone stores to milk during the lactation period. Even when the concentration of lead in mother s milk is low, the absorption of metals into the systemic circulation of infants is generally high when they are on a milk diet. To better understand the sensitivity of the nursing infant to chemicals, epidemiological studies, chemical monitoring, and model development and application are needed. 

No clinical effects noted during the 70-day treatment or during a 165-day posttreatment period. Contaminants in PCP — including several dioxins and hexachlorobenzene — were found in milk, fat, and blood. PCP residues in whole milk rose to 4 mg/kg, but declined to <0.1 mg/kg within a few days after PCP cessation (Firestone et al. 1979)... 

Alawi MA, Ammari N, Al-Shuraiki. 1992. Organochlorine pesticide contaminations in human milk samples from women living in Amman, Jordan. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 23 235-239. 

Mes J, Davies DJ, Turon D, et al. 1986. Levels and trends of chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants in the breast milk of Canadian women. Food Add Contam 3 313-322. 

Jensen AA. 1983. Chemical contaminants in human milk. Residue Rev 89 1-128. 

Serum and plasma Serum and plasma samples partially mimic the trend observed in human milk samples. Overall, polycyclic musks can be detected more frequently and at higher concentrations compared to the nitro musk compounds (Table 8). HHCB is by far the most common of the polycyclic musks as production and use of this compound increased at the same time as production and use of nitro musks decreased [168]. However, MX still seems to be a common contaminant in human serum, with a considerably high detection frequency compared to AHTN. A high percentage of the population is still exposed to nitro musk compounds [168], although a moderate decline in MX and a strong decline in MK are observed. 

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