Lead levels in the milk of Fulani women in Nigeria.

Levels of lead were determined in the milk of 34 Fulani women in Plateau State in northern Nigeria. The Fulani are nomadic, semi-pastoralists who inhabit the western Sahel, including the countries of Mali, Burkino Faso, the Republic of Niger, Nigeria and Chad. The mean age of the women in this study was 26.0 +/- 7.5 years and their mean body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) was 19.4 (range, 14.5-24.0). Their average parity was 4 (range, 1-10). Milk was collected 2-24 weeks postgestation (mean, 11 weeks). Fifteen of the 34 milk specimens contained measurable lead (limit of detection, 4.6 microg/dL); the milk of the other 19 women (56%) did not contain a detectable level of lead. The data were not normally distributed. The median lead concentration of all 34 milk specimens, determined by end on plasma-axial view spectrometry, was 6.7 microg/dL (range, < 4.6-130 microg/dL). Given the mean weight of the 34 infants in the study (4.6 kg) and assuming that each infant consumed 0.7 L/day of milk, the average lead intake of these exclusively breastfed infants was 9.9 microg/kg/day, a value which is twice the daily permissible intake (DPI) of 5.0 microg/g/day set by the World Health Organization in 1972. These data indicate that some exclusively breastfed Fulani infants in the Jos Plateau are at risk of injury from lead derived from their mothers' milk, and raise questions about the actual blood levels in these nursing infants and the source(s) of the maternal lead.