ArticlePloS one2017
Concentrations of trace elements in human milk: Comparisons among women in Argentina, Namibia, Poland, and the United States.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessment of arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances concentrations in human milk and infant formula in the United States: a systematic review.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Changes in milk composition of raw, frozen, pasteurized, and freeze-dried jenny milk from a farm-scale dairy.Food chemistry: X · 2026Article
- Human Milk as a Biomonitor of Toxic Metal Exposure: Sources, Transfer Mechanisms, and Implications for Infant Health-A Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Reference Values for Minerals in Human Milk: the Mothers, Infants and Lactation Quality (MILQ) Study.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- Evaluating Heavy Metals in Human Breast Milk: a Cross-Sectional Study from Mining and Agricultural Areas in Northwestern Iran.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Article
- Lactational Exposure of Human Infants to Metal (loid)s: A Comparison of Industrial and Urban Inhabitants in North of the Persian Gulf.Biological trace element research · 2024Article
- Concentrations of Lead and Arsenic in Mother's Milk and Children's Blood in Peruvian Breastfeeding Dyads.Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association · 2024Article
- Lactational exposure of human infants to metal(loid)s in Sub-Saharan Africa and Mediterranean Europe: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Current research in toxicology · 2024Review
- The effects of active and passive smoking on selected trace element levels in human milk.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Prenatal Lead Exposure is Negatively Associated with the Gut Microbiome in Childhood.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Prenatal lead exposure is negatively associated with the gut microbiome in childhood.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- The role of human milk nutrients in preventing necrotizing enterocolitis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Iron mobilization during lactation reduces oxygen stores in a diving mammal.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Health Risk Assessments of Selected Trace Elements and Factors Associated with Their Levels in Human Breast Milk from Pretoria, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- ExpoKids: An R-based tool for characterizing aggregate chemical exposure during childhood.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2021Article
- Essential and toxic elements in human milk concentrate with human milk lyophilizate: A preclinical study.Environmental research · 2020Article
- Effects of lead and cadmium on the immune system and cancer progression.Journal of environmental health science & engineering · 2020Review
- Review
- Association between Breast Milk Mineral Content and Maternal Adherence to Healthy Dietary Patterns in Spain: A Transversal Study.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human milk contains essential micronutrients for growth and development during early life. Environmental pollutants, such as potentially toxic metals, can also be transferred to the infant through human milk. These elements have been well-studied, but changing diets and environments and advances in laboratory technology require re-examining these elements in a variety of settings. The aim of this study was to characterize the concentrations of essential and toxic metals in human milk from four diverse populations. Human milk samples (n = 70) were collected in Argentina (n = 21), Namibia (n = 6), Poland (n = 23), and the United States (n = 20) using a standardized mid-feed collection procedure. Milk concentrations of calcium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, lead, arsenic, and cadmium were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We used standard multiple linear regression models to evaluate differences among populations, while including infant age, infant sex, and maternal parity status (multiparous or primiparous) as covariates. Concentrations of all elements, except zinc, varied across populations after controlling for infant age, infant sex, and maternal parity. Calcium and magnesium showed more differences across populations than iron or copper. There were no significant differences among population in zinc concentrations. Mean concentrations of lead, but not arsenic, were low compared to recently published values from other populations. The concentrations of trace elements in human milk are variable among populations. Limitations due to small sample sizes and environmental contamination of some samples prevent us from drawing robust conclusions about the causes of these differences.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.