How Much Radioactivity Is in Infant Formula?

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Oct. 1, 2015 - PRLog -- Based on measurements of radioactivity in samples of infant formula manufactured and sold around the world, researchers estimate that infants 1 year of age or younger who consume these formulas would ingest a significantly higher radioactivity dose than reported levels, but lower than internationally recommended limits. The researchers report the radioactivity levels for each brand of formula in an article published in Environmental Engineering Science, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/). The article is available free on the Environmental Engineering Science (http://www.liebertpub.com/ees) website until November 1, 2015.

In "Measurement of Natural and Artificial Radioactivity in Infant's Powdered Milk and Estimation of the Corresponding Annual Effective Dose (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ees.2015.0114)," Onoshohwo Bemigho Uwatse and coauthors, University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), University of Surrey (U.K.), and King Saud University (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), determined the levels of radioactive radium, potassium, radium, and thorium in 14 brands of powdered infant milk prepared and sold in various regions around the world. Levels of radioactivity in the formula may vary depending on several factors including radioactivity in the soil, grass, or hay from which the cows were fed, in other raw materials used in processing the formula, or due to processing conditions.

“This paper focuses on a topic that has not drawn significant attention but, nonetheless, has important health implications,” says Domenico Grasso, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Engineering Science and Provost, University of Delaware.

About the Journal
Environmental Engineering Science (http://www.liebertpub.com/ees), the official journal of The Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options.  Publishing state-of-the-art studies of innovative solutions to problems in air, water, and land contamination and waste disposal, the Journal features applications of environmental engineering and scientific discoveries, policy issues, environmental economics, and sustainable development including climate change, complex and adaptive systems, contaminant fate and transport, environmental risk assessment and management, green technologies, industrial ecology, environmental policy, and energy and the environment. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Environmental Engineering Science (http://www.liebertpub.com/ees) website.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Industrial Biotechnology, Sustainability: The Journal of Record, and Environmental Justice. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/) website.

About the Association
The Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (http://aeesp.org/) (AEESP) is made up of professors in academic programs throughout the world who provide education in the sciences and technologies of environmental protection. The mission of AEESP is to assist its members in the development and dissemination of knowledge in environmental engineering and science. AEESP seeks to strengthen and advance the discipline of environmental science and engineering by providing leadership, promoting cooperation amongst academics and others within and outside the discipline, and serving as a liaison between its membership and other professional societies, governmental agencies, industry and nonprofit organizations.