Longitudinal Variation of Trace Elements Concentration in Human Milk in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Information on the secretion of trace elements in human milk is needed, not only in order to estimate the intake by the breast-fed infant, but also as a starting point for recommendations of intakes from other types of infant foods and minerals diets during lactation. Duration of lactation, particularly in the first few weeks, markedly affects concentrations of some elements, including iron, zinc and manganese. Zinc, copper, iron, chromium, cadmium, manganese and lead were measured in breast milk samples collected from 11 healthy lactating mothers. Samples were collected from day of delivery to 15 days postpartum. The mean (±SD) concentration values in ppb of Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cd and Pb in the morning samples are 2330.8±3.1, 491.9±1.8, 164.3±1.4, 18.2±0.3, 7.1±0.3, 2.03±0.01 and 1.47±0.01 respectively while those in the afternoon samples are 2434.6±2.9, 562.1±2.1, 299.9±2.0, 24.5±0.5, 20.2±0.7, 4.6±0.1 and 1.76±0.1 respectively. The concentrations of the elements in milk samples collected in the afternoon are higher than those in the morning samples. There is an apparent decline in the mean concentration levels as the stage of lactation progressed. Our results are also compared with the corresponding values of different countries available in literature. It is observed that the concentration levels of the elements studied in breast milk of Saudi mothers are well comparable with the values reported elsewhere in the world.