Farm-fresh human breast milk is being sought from Wairarapa mothers for an international study.
Massey University is seeking 12 to 15 Wairarapa women who live at least 3km from one of the major towns, for a study of environment pollutants like DDT, whose traces might still be contained in mother's milk.
Research
nurse Heather Duckett at Massey University said the university needs some help in finding rural Wairarapa women for the study.
Ms Duckett said the study will pick up the "body burden" of the polluting chemicals in New Zealanders, and does not imply that breast milk is in any way unhealthy.
The research is being conducted at the request of the Ministry of Health on behalf of the World Health Organisation, and the targets are persistent organic pollutants, or POPs.
The most common POPs are pesticides like DDTs, industrial chemicals known as PCBs, or dioxins which are industry by-products.
Breast milk has been chosen because it is more easily collected than blood and these pollutants accumulate in fat.
The breast milk study will also complement studies in 1988 and 1998, that showed these chemicals declined in the New Zealand environment by 70 per cent over the 10 years.
For the Wairarapa study, Ms Duckett is seeking pregnant women, aged 20-30, who will be prepared to provide breast milk samples totalling 250ml three to six weeks after the birth of the baby.
