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Domingo et al. J Environ Expo Assess 2024;3:25 Journal of Environmental
DOI: 10.20517/jeea.2024.49
Exposure Assessment

Editorial Open Access

Environmental chemicals in breast milk and infant
formula: measurements, interpretation, and

communication

1
José L. Domingo , Judy S. LaKind 2,3
1
Universitat Rovira i Virgili, School of Medicine, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Reus 43201, Spain.
2
LaKind Associates, LLC, Catonsville, MD 21228, USA.
3
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Judy S. LaKind, LaKind Associates, LLC, 106 Oakdale Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228, USA. E-mail:
lakindassoc@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Domingo JL, LaKind JS. Environmental chemicals in breast milk and infant formula: measurements,
interpretation, and communication. J Environ Expo Assess 2024;3:25. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/jeea.2024.49
Received: 21 Nov 2024 Accepted: 29 Nov 2024 Published: 29 Nov 2024

Academic Editor: Stuart Harrad Copy Editor: Pei-Yun Wang Production Editor: Pei-Yun Wang

A wide array of organic and inorganic chemicals have been identified in both outdoor and indoor
environments, as well as in foods, personal care products, clothing, and numerous other sources. Many of
these chemicals have been found at concentrations associated with an increased risk of adverse health
effects . Exposure to these substances can occur at all life stages through oral ingestion, dermal contact, and
[1]
inhalation. Exposures during infancy are particularly concerning due to the increased susceptibility of
[2]
[3]
infants . Studies on the presence of chemicals in breast milk have been conducted since the 1950s , while
research on environmental chemicals in infant formula is a more recent occurrence.

Infant feeding serves as a direct pathway for contaminants from both the mother and the environment to
reach infants, exposing them during a highly sensitive life stage. However, most communities worldwide
lack a comprehensive understanding of actual exposure levels and of the relative contributions of breast
milk and infant formula to these exposures. This knowledge gap complicates the development of evidence-
based recommendations for infant feeding. In response to these challenges, the Editors of this Special
Collection issued a Call for Papers, inviting authors to submit high-quality manuscripts addressing these
concerns. This Special Issue features five papers that explore various aspects of infant exposure to

© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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