REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF LEAD IN HUMAN-MILK FROM EGYPT

Bioaccumulation of lead during chronic exposure and its mobilization a nd secretion with mother's milk constitute a serious health hazard to the newly born children. Lead levels in human breast milk of 120 Egypt ian women representing 20 different governorates throughout Egypt were determined using a graphite furnace Atomic Absorption spectrometer. A ccording to the daily permissible intake (DPI) value established by th e WHO of 5.0 mu g/kg/d in mother's milk, the mean values of lead were around the permissible level in most of the Egyptian governorates. How ever, lead levels in mother's milk from Alexandria, Assiut and Cairo w ere significantly higher than the permissible value. Higher lead level s in mother's milk from these governorates may be attributed to heavy automobile traffic using leaded gasoline in addition to the use of lea d water pipelines in these areas. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd