Pattern of Arsenic Exposure to Children: New born to toddler Stages

Abstract

Elevated levels of arsenic are found in several countries which exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guideline (10µg/L), affecting 100 million people globally. Its prevalence varies in different countries among which Andean Argentina and South-East Asia are most severely affected. Bangladesh is considered a major As-contaminated zone and more than 10µg/L of As is present in the tube wells installed during the last decade. As-contaminated water poses serious threat to the population in general, and children in particular. School-age children exposed to As are found to be deficient in cognitive functions in several countries. Although As contamination is a global phenomenon reports on children’s exposure to As, through breast milk pathway is limited. Findings of the few global studies show low level of As in breast milk even in populations exposed to high levels. Several reports indicate the potential counterbalancing the impact of exposures of chemicals through breast milk which outweigh the hazards of feeding contaminated breast milk. On the other hand, the presence of toxic elements in powdered and liquid infant milk is a cause of concern considering the probable health problems in infants. It is surmised from available data that although the lactating mothers resided in highly As-contaminated zones the concentration of the toxic metal is low in the breast milk and breast feeding infants are protected from the toxic effects of As. Therefore breast feeding is still the best way to protect the infants in As-contaminated zones as per WHO recommendations.