British babies feeding on breast milk could be receiving as much as 40 times World Heath Organization-recommended levels of a wide range of chemicals, according to a report from the World Wildlife Fund in the U.K. The report identified 87 dioxins and 190 other chemicals from industrial pollution and pesticides, including possible endocrine-disrupters, in the breast milk of women in the U.K. But the WWF cautioned that the report should not be used to discourage breast feeding — cow milk, for example, might contain as many pollutants — and said that the report instead should be impetus to the government to study more extensively the extent of human contamination from chemicals and to regulate more vigorously the use of such chemicals.
