[The contamination of human milk with chlororganic pesticides (author's transl)].

A survey on the situation concerning the residues on pesticides in human milk in West Germany is given, based on own investigations. Nearly the whole pattern of chlororganic pesticides - DDT with its metabolites DDE and DDD, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), the different isomeres (alpha-, beta-, gamma-) of benzenehexachloride (BHC) as well as dieldrin and heptachloroepoxid - together with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) coming from the environment - were found in all samples of human milk, though in different concentrations. PCB, HCB and beta-BHC had been discovered in human milk only about ten years ago. The residues have decreased in the past years. The concentrations are still so high that the amounts consumed by the suckling exceed the ADI values for the contaminants in question. But in the opinion of the experts the advantages connected with the alimentation with human milk weigh more than the eventual risk by the contamination.