HIGHER MILK INTAKE DURING PREGNANCY IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER MATERNALAND UMBILICAL-CORD LEAD LEVELS IN POSTPARTUM WOMEN

Lead exposure and its deleterious effects continue to be a problem in many countries. The lack of effective and safe treatments for low-leve l intoxication has promoted environmental interventions to control dif ferent sources of lead. In this study we evaluated the effect of milk consumption in 1849 mother-and-child pairs participating in the lead s urveillance program in Mexico City. The mean lead levels were 11.2 mu g/dL for maternal blood lead (MEL) and 10.8 mu g/dL in umbilical cord. The correlation between blood lead and umbilical cord lead was r = 0. 74. Forty-eight percent of the MBL exceeded 10 mu g/dL and 9.5% exceed ed 20 mu g/dL. Maternal blood lead was positively related to the use o f lead-glazed ceramic ware and to traffic exposure and was inversely r elated to the consumption of milk and orange juice. Women who reported the consumption of more than 7 glasses of milk per week had a blood l ead level of 8.7 mu g/dL; in comparison, those women who reported a co nsumption of less than 7 glasses per week. had a blood lead level of 1 1.1 mu g/dL. Similar findings were observed for lead measured in umbil ical cord. The association between lead levels and milk intake remaine d unchanged after taking in consideration other predictors of blood le ad. This study suggests that a simple intervention could reduce lead b urden among women and their newborns. (C) 1997 Academic Press.