New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Testing breast milk for cannabinoids

Date:
January 11, 2017
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
With the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana spreading across the country, the drug's use is reportedly increasing among pregnant women. It stands to reason that many of these women will continue to use marijuana after they give birth. Now researchers have developed a new method to help determine what this means for infants' potential exposure to the active compounds in marijuana in breast milk.
Share:
FULL STORY

With the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana spreading across the country, the drug's use is reportedly increasing among pregnant women. It stands to reason that many of these women will continue to use marijuana after they give birth. Now researchers have developed a new method to help determine what this means for infants' potential exposure to the active compounds in marijuana in breast milk. Their report appears in the journal ACS Omega.

Cannabinoids, marijuana's active compounds such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinol, like to stick to fat, which is abundant in breast milk. This stickiness suggests that in women who use marijuana, these compounds can end up in breast milk, raising concerns about their potential effects on nursing babies. But the health risks to these infants largely remain undetermined. This is partly due to researchers' limited ability to precisely measure marijuana's active compounds in milk. Current analytical methods can detect THC at levels of 1.5 nanograms per milliliter or higher, but no current method can measure cannabinol or cannabidiol in milk.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed a method that begins with saponification -- a process often associated with soap-making -- to separate cannabinoids from fat in milk. With this approach, the team can detect trace levels (picograms per milliliter) of active marijuana compounds, including cannabinol and cannabidiol, that they say could be present in milk due to second-hand exposure. The test is 100 times better at detecting THC in milk than previous techniques. The researchers say that their approach could contribute to future studies designed to determine potential health risks of a mother's marijuana exposure to her breastfeeding infant.


Story Source:

Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Binnian Wei, James E. McGuffey, Benjamin C. Blount, Lanqing Wang. Sensitive Quantification of Cannabinoids in Milk by Alkaline Saponification–Solid Phase Extraction Combined with Isotope Dilution UPLC–MS/MS. ACS Omega, 2016; 1 (6): 1307 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.6b00253

Cite This Page:

American Chemical Society. "Testing breast milk for cannabinoids." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 January 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111102842.htm>.
American Chemical Society. (2017, January 11). Testing breast milk for cannabinoids. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111102842.htm
American Chemical Society. "Testing breast milk for cannabinoids." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111102842.htm (accessed December 1, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES