Subscribe
Alarming levels of uranium found in breast milk from six districts in Bihar.
This poses significant health risks for infants.
Study underlines urgent need to address uranium contamination in the region.
High levels of uranium have been found in breast milk of women in six districts of Bihar, indicating a significant threat to infants health, showed a new report.
The samples tested had uranium concentrations of up to 5.25 microgrammes per litre (µg / L) and significant contamination was noted in every sample. There is no permissible limit or benchmark specified for uranium concentration in breast milk.
Scientists had also discovered lead in breast milk samples last year and and found arsenic some years earlier.
Uranium poisoning through consumption on breast milk can lead to health complications in infants, warned health experts. No carcinogenic risk, however, was observed in the exposed subjects, they noted.
The study was carried out by a team of scientists from multiple Indian institutes, including Mahavir Cancer Sansthan & Research Centre in Bihar's Patna, Lovely Professional University in Punjab’s Phagwara, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Bihar’s Hajipur and All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
Between October 2021 and July 2024, they collected samples from 40 lactating mothers aged 17-35 years selected randomly from Bihar's Bhojpur, Samastipur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Katihar and Nalanda districts and analysed them.
“The uranium (U238) content in breast milk samples was measured using the Agilent 7850 LC-ICP-MS instrument from the United States. The uranium analysis was conducted at NIPER-Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar,” said Arun Kumar, one of the scientists involved in the research study.
The carcinogenic risk and hazard quotient of the infants and mothers were also studied to understand the potential health hazard effects of uranium.
The report Discovery of uranium content in breast milk and assessment of associated health risks for mothers and infants in Bihar, India was published last week in the journal Nature.
Infants were found to be highly vulnerable to potential non-carcinogenic risk in comparison to their mothers, due to the real-time uranium elimination from their bodies, the scientists wrote.
Uranium contamination in the 70 per cent of the infant population had the potential to cause non-carcinogenic health effects, according to the findings.
The highest uranium concentration (5.2 µg / L) was observed in Katihar. The lowest mean value (2.35 μg / L) was in samples from Nalanda, while highest mean value (4.035 μg / L) was in samples from Khagaria.
The source of uranium in the studied districts could be drinking water sources or the food source cultivated in the same location, the scientists noted.
Groundwater uranium contamination is a significant concern in India, affecting 151 districts across 18 states.
In Bihar, 11 districts — Gopalganj, Saran, Siwan, East Champaran, Patna, Vaishali, Nawada, Nalanda, Supaul, Katihar, Bhagalpur— have the problem, studies have shown.
