FIRST FOOD UNDER THREAT

Mother's milk is the safest and most complete nourishment for infants. Scientists and public health authorities, including the World Health Organization, have long described it as a newborn's first vaccine and primary defence against disease. But what if that very first food begins to mirror the mounting burden of environmental contaminants?

- VIVEK MISHRA

MOTHER'S MILK is the among the most familiar yet most enigmatic of substances. Public health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have long maintained that breastfeeding offers the safest and most complete nourishment for infants—one of the surest ways to safeguard child health and survival. In recent decades studies have also begun to unravel how this “living” fluid acts as medicine, adapts to an infant’s specific, evolving needs and shapes long-term health.

Honed by evolution, its composition—macronutrients and micronutrients, bioactive molecules and even stem cells—supports optimal growth, strengthens immune defences and aids neurodevelopment. In infants it dampens inflammation, neutralises pathogens and shapes the gut microbiome. By promoting the maturation of mucous membranes, it lowers the risk of allergies and autoimmune disorders and contributes to the proper development of the gastrointestinal, nervous, endocrine and immune systems. It also protects against obesity and respiratory infections.

In 2015, a long-term study published in The Lancet Global Health provided evidence that longer duration of breastfeeding is associated with higher intelligence in adulthood, more years of schooling and greater earnings. Small wonder, then, that components of breast milk are now being explored as potential therapies for adult conditions, from cancer and cardiovascular disease to arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.

But what happens when that first food begins to reflect the burden of environmental contaminants?

In parts of rural India scientists are detecting traces of pesticides and heavy metals in breast milk. The latest addition to the list is uranium. Exposure to contaminants, it seems, may begin not in adulthood or adolescence but in infancy itself. The quantities detected are often small and the long-term health implications remain uncertain. Even so, the findings raise unsettling questions.