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Breast Milk Iodine and Perchlorate Concentrations in Lactating Boston-Area Women

Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition (E.N.P., A.M.L., X.H., S.P., L.E.B.), Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; Division of Laboratory Sciences (B.C.B., L.V.-B.), National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333; and Department of Medicine (H.R.B.), Golestan University Medical School, Golestan, Islamic Republic of Iran

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Elizabeth N. Pearce, M.D., M.Sc., Boston Medical Center, 88 East Newton Street, Evans 201, Boston, Massachusetts 02118. E-mail: elizabeth.pearce{at}bmc.org.

Context: Breastfed infants rely on adequate maternal dietary iodine intake.

Objective: Our objective was to measure breast milk iodine and perchlorate, an inhibitor of iodide transport into the thyroid and potentially into breast milk, in Boston-area women.

Participants: The study included 57 lactating healthy volunteers in the Boston area.

Measurements: Breast milk iodine and perchlorate concentrations and urine iodine, perchlorate, and cotinine concentrations were measured. For comparison, iodine and perchlorate levels in infant formulae were also measured.

Results: Median breast milk iodine content in 57 samples was 155 µg/liter (range, 2.7–1968 µg/liter). Median urine iodine was 114 µg/liter (range, 25–920 µg/liter). Perchlorate was detectable in all 49 breast milk samples (range, 1.3–411 µg/liter), all 56 urine samples (range, 0.37–127 µg/liter), and all 17 infant formula samples (range, 0.22–4.1 µg/liter) measured. Breast milk iodine content was significantly correlated with urinary iodine per gram creatinine and urinary cotinine but was not significantly correlated with breast milk or urinary perchlorate.

Conclusions: Perchlorate exposure was not significantly correlated with breast milk iodine concentrations. Perchlorate was detectable in infant formula but at lower levels than in breast milk. Forty-seven percent of women sampled may have been providing breast milk with insufficient iodine to meet infants’ requirements.

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