The amount of cancer-causing dioxin contained in breast milk consumed by babies can be as much as seven times higher than the safety standard for adults, according to an interim report on a recent survey by the Health and Welfare Ministry.
Ministry officials, however, said the findings do not indicate a serious health risk since infants are generally not fed breast milk for more than a year. The ministry's survey was conducted on 80 mothers between the ages of 25 and 34 living in Tokyo, Saitama, Osaka and Ishikawa prefectures.
The ministry is trying to monitor changes in the amount of dioxin in breast milk by conducting four surveys on the women over a period of 10 months -- the average period in Japan for which newborn babies are fed breast milk. The interim report comes after two of the four surveys.