Salmonine Consumption as a Source of Mirex in Human Breast Milk near Rochester, New York

Fifty-seven pre-natal classes were attended to recruit 30 donors of human milk samples in the vicinity of Rochester, NY. Donors were categorized into two groups of 15 Lake Ontario fish eaters (LOFE) and non-Lake Ontario fish eaters (NLOFE). A comparison of mirex concentrations in breast milk of Lake Ontario fish eaters with non-Lake Ontario fish eaters indicated no significant difference in median mirex concentrations (0.09 vs 0.06 ng/g milk). When the Lake Ontario fish eaters were divided into panfish and salmonine consumers, significant differences in mirex concentration in breast milk were observed. Women eating Lake Ontario salmonines have significantly higher concentrations of mirex (median = 0.21 ng/g milk) in their breast milk than Lake Ontario panfish consumers (median = 0.03 ng/g milk) and the NLOFE group (median = 0.06 ng/g milk). Photomirex concentrations were consistently higher in both donor groups than mirex and were significantly higher in the breast milk of salmonine consumers than in both the panfish consumers and the NLOFE group. The relatively high concentrations of photomirex in the breast milk of all donors (LOFE and NLOFE) suggest volatilization and an atmospheric transport of this contaminant. The child of a woman salmonine consumer, breast feeding daily at the median concentration level observed for a month, has a loading of mirex (816 ng mirex/kg) that is equivalent to consuming three Lake Ontario salmon meals at the FDA action level and that represents 2.9 times more mirex than an adult male should consume per month according to the NYS Department of Health advisory.