New Delhi: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has assured that the Uranium detected in breast milk of lactating mothers in Bihar is far below the permissible threshold set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A study conducted by a group of scientists from Mahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research Center, Patna, Lovely Professional University and AIIMS, New Delhi, had found up to 5 ppb (parts per billion) of Uranium in breast milk samples from Bihar. This was published in the British journal ‘Scientific Reports’.
“The study analysed breast milk from 40 lactating mothers and found uranium (U-238) in all samples. Although 70% of infants showed potential non-carcinogenic health risk, the overall uranium levels were below permissible limits and are expected to have minimal actual health impact on both mothers and infants,” Dr Ashok Sharma of AIIMS Delhi, a co-author of the study, told news agency ANI.
Nuclear scientist Dr Dinesh K Aswal, a member of NDMA and former group director of Bhabha Atomic Research Center, told NDTV in an exclusive interview that the study’s findings are no cause for concern.
“The levels detected are well within safe limits. In fact, the WHO’s permissible threshold in drinking water is nearly six times higher than what has been observed,” Aswal said.
“There is absolutely no reason for alarm. Mothers can and should continue to breastfeed their children without hesitation,” he added.
The WHO safe threshold for Uranium in drinking water is 30 ppb, six times the content found in the Bihar samples. Tiny amounts of Uranium are found naturally in soil worldwide. Also, most of the Uranium consumed by lactating mothers is excreted via urine, and only a minuscule amount is found in breast milk.
Long-term Uranium exposure can have very harmful health effects on infants, but Dr Sharma said the Bihar study’s findings conclude that the actual impact on infant health is likely low, and said women must continue to breastfeed babies.
The study suggests that in recent years, groundwater Uranium poisoning has posed serious health hazards to the exposed population. In India, an estimated 151 districts and 18 states are reported with groundwater uranium contamination, it states.
“The objective of the study is to evaluate the Uranium contamination in the breast milk of lactating mothers and their breastfed infants. To evaluate the Uranium exposure in the infants exposed through their mother’s breast milk, n=40 lactating women were selected randomly from different districts of Bihar. After obtaining the written informed consent, their breast milk was collected and analysed for quantification of U238,” the report says.
“The infants and their mother’s carcinogenic risk (CR) and hazard quotient (HQ) were also studied to know the potential health hazard effects of Uranium. The Uranium exposure to the infants through their mother’s breast milk is at a hazardous level. All the analysed breast milk samples had U238 contents, which could pose health impacts to infants. The infants are highly vulnerable to potential non-carcinogenic risk in comparison to their mothers due to the real-time Uranium elimination from their bodies. The study reveals that the Uranium content in the breast milk was significantly high,” it adds.
The report said there is a need to biomonitor Uranium exposure in these regions at a broader level.
