Aflatoxins in human breast milk

Abstract

Breast milk from 99 Sudanese mothers was analysed for aflatoxins. Aflatoxins M1 and/or M2 were detected in 37 of the milks. No other aflatoxin was detected. M1 occurred alone in 13 milks, (mean 19.0 pg/ml), M2 in 11 milks (mean 12.2 pg/ml), and in 13 samples both M1 and M2 were detected. There appeared to be a linear relationship between M1 and M2 where both were excreted. No aflatoxin was detected in subcutaneous abdominal wall fat removed during Caesarian section from 15 women, but was present in three out of 14 bloods taken during anaesthesia. The presence of aflatoxins in mothers' milk showed no correlation with duration of lactation, the infants' nutrition, presence of aflatoxin in mothers' blood, or the infant's blood and urine. It is concluded that some Sudanese women excrete aflatoxins in breast-milk at levels similar to or higher than those considered safe in animal milk, for human consumption.

Determination of aflatoxin M1 in dairy cattle milk in Khartoum State, Sudan

“…The results also lend support to those obtained in human breast milk in Sudan (Coulter, Lamplugh, Suliman, Omer, & Hendrickse, 1984), where 13 out of 99 (13.13%) of the samples were contaminated with aflatoxin with an average concentration of 0.019 lg L À1 .…”

Comparative Study of Aflatoxin M1 in Livestock Livers from Minna, Nigeria

“…Though these studies were on AFM 1 levels and occurrence in livestock milk not in livestock livers. However, the findings in this study lend support to those obtained in breast milk study of Coulter et al [21]. In the study of Dashti et al [22] fresh milk samples from Kuwaiti markets were contaminated with aflatoxin M 1 , with 8 samples exceeding maximum tolerant limit.…”

Occurrence of Fungi and Mycotoxins in Some Commercial Baby Foods in North Africa

“…Aflatoxin M 1 has been reported in breast milk particularly in developing countries. For example in Egypt, AFM 1 was detected in breast milk at level 13.5 pg·mL -1 [38], in The United Arab Emirates in the range of 5 to 3400 pg·mL -1 [39] and from 5 -64 pg·mL -1 in the Sudan [40]. In Gambia AFM 1 was detected in one hundred samples of breast milk at ≥1.4 pg·mL -1 [41].…”