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Glyphosate does not enter the breast milk
After the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the plant protection product glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic" last year, public awareness of the issue has increased significantly. The subsequent media reports on the detection of glyphosate in breast milk caused considerable uncertainty. However, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is now giving the all-clear. A recent study shows that no glyphosate is detectable in breast milk, according to the BfR.
In the summer of last year, media reported on findings of glyphosate in 16 breast milk samples and described these results as "very worrying", after which the BfR claims to have expressed "scientific doubts about the reliability of the results". The institute commissioned its own study "to obtain traceable and reliable results." The commissioned renowned European laboratories were unable to detect any residues above the detection limit, despite modern methods of analysis, reports the BfR. Breast milk remains the natural and therefore best food for babies. Mothers should not be unsettled, according to the BfR.
A recent BfR study concludes that no glyphosate enters breast milk. (Image: taramara78 / fotolia.com) 114 breast milk samples examined
The care of nursing mothers was only too understandable, after first reporting on the likely carcinogenic effects of glyphosate and subsequently on its detection in breast milk. However, the BfR had expressed early doubts on the reports of glyphosate in breast milk. "Due to the physico-chemical properties of glyphosate, no relevant transition of the active substance into breast milk was to be expected and, as with cow's milk, scientifically not proven so far," according to the BfR. For this reason, two renowned European research laboratories were commissioned to develop independent analytical methods with high sensitivity and to study 114 breast milk samples from Lower Saxony and Bavaria. The reason for the study was also the inquiries of worried mothers at the BfR.
Special analysis methods developed
According to the BfR, the two analytical methods developed are based on "liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS / MS) or gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS / MS)" and "can glyphosate residues in breast milk from 1 nanogram (ng = one billionth of a gram) Precise determination per milliliter (mL) (limit of quantification). "The requirement for accuracy was thus extremely high. Thus, the methods are ten times more sensitive than the methods commonly used for the analysis of pesticide residues in food and 75 times more sensitive than the ELISA method (according to the manufacturer), reports the BfR. The latter was used in the analysis of the 16 breast milk samples in June 2015 and the resulting results in some media described as "worrying", the Federal Institute further.
Various measuring principles ensure verifiability
The commissioned laboratories had many years of experience in applying the currently most sensitive analytical detection methods for pesticide residues, emphasizes the BfR. The researchers had used two analytical methods with different measuring principles for the determination of residues of glyphosate in breast milk in order to be able to clarify positive results if necessary. For the examination breast milk samples were available, which were collected by the Lower Saxony State Health Office and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety. The participants took part on their own initiative and were not selected according to a sampling procedure, which is why they do not provide a representative sample of the total number of breastfeeding mothers in Germany, explains the BfR.
No glyphosate detected in any breast milk sample
According to the original expectations, BfR did not measure residues of the plant protection agent glyphosate above the detection limit in any of the milk samples examined. Based on the results, the BfR "in its view, derived from the physico-chemical properties of glyphosate and from data on the toxicokinetics and metabolism of experimental animals and livestock, confirms that no relevant transition of this active substance into breast milk takes place." The BfR President emphasizes that the current results show "the importance of serious scientific research in order not to unnecessarily confuse consumers in the emotionally-charged debate on pesticide residues."
Breast milk the best food for infants
According to the BfR, 16 breast milk samples were tested for glyphosate in the study from last year, whereby the former testing laboratory used the so-called ELISA test as a detection method. Details of the conduct of the test have not been published, but glyphosate concentrations between 0.21 and 0.43 ng per mL have been found. Thus, the values would have been lower by about a factor of 200 than the manufacturer of the ELISA test still indicated as a reliable limit of quantification.
In addition, the alleged findings were not confirmed by an independent analysis procedure. With regard to the current research results, the BfR and the National Breastfeeding Committee expressly point out that "they assess the measured levels as safe to health and that breast milk is still the natural and thus best food for infants." (Fp)