Uranium contamination of infant milks

There has been some concern that infant formula made up with some waters could contain high levels of uranium, which is thought to have potential toxic effects on kidney function. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a guideline maximum level of 15µg/litre for uranium in water, but there is some concern that giving infants infant formula made up with water that has 15µg/litre could result in infants under 6 months consuming up to four times the tolerable dietary intake (TDI) also set by WHO (Committee on Toxicity, 2006). At the present time there are not thought to be any health concerns to infants related to uranium in infant milk, but COT (the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment) acknowledges that it has little data in this area and the impact of these intakes is uncertain. Some bottled waters may have high levels of uranium and so it is important that, if a bottled water is used to make up a feed, the bottled water should specify that it is suitable for infant formula.

References

Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (2006). COT statement on uranium levels in water used to reconstitute infant formula. Available at http://cot.food.gov.uk/pdfs/cotstatementuranium06.pdf