<![CDATA[Introduction: Lead in breast milk could be damaging to an infant’s growth, and communities near Mount Merapi might contain heavy metals from the volcano’s activity. However, lead contamination of breast milk remain unexplored. So, this study aimed to find what things affect the amount of lead in the breast milk of mothers living in areas with volcanic risk. Methods: A survey of 129 randomly selected breastfeeding mothers from volcanic hazard zones I, II, and III. We measured lead in breast milk using ICP-MS. We gathered data on possible exposures with interviews and used generalized estimating equations for the analysis. Results and Discussion: Zone I had the most at 10.85 ppb, then Zone II at 6.38 ppb, and Zone III at 1.39 ppb. Mothers in the hazard zones generally had a lot more lead in their breast milk (Exp(B) = 9.798; p < 0.001). Higher levels were also clearly linked to mothers who smoked (Exp(B) = 211; p < 0.001). There was a clear rise in concentrations with the mother’s age; each additional year of age went with a 1.32x increase (p = 0.041). Mothers in high-risk jobs had less lead in their milk (Exp(B) = 0.04; p = 0.004). Lead levels didn’t clearly relate to the water supply, cosmetics, or exposure to other people’s smoke (p > 0.05). Conclusion: a mother’s age and if she smokes change the lead amount in her breast milk, and the lead goes up the closer a mother lives to a volcanic hazard.]]>
Copyrights © 2026
