Breast Milk Concentration of Rubidium in Lactating Mothers by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis Method

OBJECTIVE Relatively little is known about the trace elements content of human milk from different countries. This has not been fully investigated especially among Iranian women. This study aimed to assess the concentration of Rubidium (Rb) as a poisonous trace element in transitional breast milk of lactating mothers living in Mashhad. METHODS Forty nursing mothers in early lactation 3 days to 15 days postpartum, free from any medical disorder and/or medication were randomly selected. We have applied Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) to assess the long-lived isotope trace element Rb in transitional milk of these economically moderate 18-39 year old Iranian women. FINDINGS The average concentration level of Rb was 32.176 ppm dry weight (min 8.660, max 107.210 ppm). No significant correlation was observed between Rb concentration and maternal weight and age (P=0.06, P=0.05 respectively) and newborns' weight, age and sex (P=0.07, P=0.2, P=0.2 respectively). CONCLUSION Although the Rubidium concentration found in this study is among the highest reported in the literature, it could not be compared to other studies because of differences in analytical performance, state of lactation, and unavailable reference ranges, so this finding needs further investigations.