Baby formula can pose high arsenic risk to newborns, much more than breast milk

In the first U.S. study of urinary arsenic in babies, Dartmouth College researchers found that formula-fed infants had higher arsenic levels than breast-fed infants, and that breast milk itself contained very low arsenic concentrations.

2015 Study Abstract

Background:
Previous studies indicate that breast milk arsenic concentrations are relatively low even in areas with high drinking water arsenic. However, it is uncertain whether breastfeeding leads to reduced infant exposure to arsenic in regions with lower arsenic concentrations.
Objective: We estimated the relative contributions of breast milk and formula to arsenic exposure during early infancy in a U.S. population.

Methods:
We measured arsenic in home tap water (n=874), urine from six-week-old infants (n=72), and breast milk from mothers (n=9) enrolled in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Using data from a three-day food diary, we compared urinary arsenic across infant feeding types and developed predictive exposure models to estimate daily arsenic intake from breast milk and formula.

Results:
Urinary arsenic concentrations were generally low (median 0.17 µg/L, maximum 3.0 µg/L) but 7.5 times higher for infants fed exclusively with formula than for infants fed exclusively with breast milk (β = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.21, 2.83; P<0.0001, adjusted for specific gravity). Similarly, the median estimated daily arsenic intake by NHBCS infants was 5.5 times higher for formula-fed infants (0.04 µg/kg/d) compared to breastfed infants (0.22 µg/kg/d). Given median arsenic concentrations measured in NHBCS tap water and previously published for formula powder, formula powder was estimated to account for ~70% of median exposure among formula-fed NHBCS infants.

Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that breastfed infants have lower arsenic exposure than formula-fed infants, and that both formula powder and drinking water can be sources of exposure for U.S. infants.

Sources and more information

• Estimated Exposure to Arsenic in Breastfed and Formula-Fed Infants in a United States Cohort, Environ Health Perspect; DOI:10.1289/ehp.1408789, and full PDF.
• Baby formula poses higher arsenic risk to newborns than breast milk, Dartmouth study shows, DARTMOUTH COLLEG, 23-FEB-2015.
• Arsenic in Well Water Can Raise Level in Baby Formula: Study, health, February 23, 2015.