Ryan Babadi Finds 92% Breast Milk Samples Contaminated
Ryan Babadi said a Seattle study found hormone-disrupting chemicals in breast milk, including BPA, BPS, melamine, cyanuric acid and triclosan. The peer-reviewed research found contamination in about 92% of 50 samples.
Seattle Breast Milk Samples
BPA appeared in 74% of the samples, BPS in 78%, triclosan in 62% and melamine in 92%. The same milk samples had previously been found to contain PFAS forever chemicals and flame retardants, making the findings a multi-chemical picture rather than a single contaminant event.
Babadi, the study’s lead author and a senior scientist with Toxic Free Future, said the chemical cocktail is concerning for infants and children and reflects a “widespread, systemic problem.” He said, “This pertains to the most vulnerable group when it comes to health effects – infants and children – who are undergoing rapid stages of development that are orchestrated by the endocrine system.”
Ryan Babadi Study Findings
The authors said the sample size was small and that the mothers included were broadly more educated and higher-income. Some compounds were found at levels below the World Health Organization’s tolerable daily intake level, but previous research has linked BPA to impaired neurodevelopment, asthma and obesity, and linked BPS to lower weight in young children.
Babadi said breastfeeding remains the healthiest choice for infants when possible, and said many of the same chemicals are also found in formulas. He also said parents “cannot shop their way out of this,” pointing to chemicals used in personal care products, plastics and antimicrobials that are hard to avoid one by one.
Melamine and Chemical Mixtures
The study is among the first to detect melamine, along with multiple other classes of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, in breast milk. Previous studies on mixtures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals have linked exposure to lower birth weight and size, which places the Seattle findings in a broader pattern of mixed-chemical exposure rather than an isolated result.
For readers trying to act on the findings, the study does not point to a simple product swap. It says the exposure pattern is widespread, and Babadi’s message is that the chemicals show up across consumer goods and even in foods made for infants.
