HAVING FAITH: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood
By Sandra Steingraber, (PERSEUS, 342 pages, $26.00)

Most representations of the food chain are highly predictable pyramidal structures. At the bottom link of the chain, one finds sunshine and vast quantities of primitive organisms. Moving up the chain, each link feeds on nutrients produced by the link below, and each successive link is comprised of a smaller number of increasingly complex organisms than the link below. As energy is converted from one form to another, some energy is lost in the conversion process. Thus the decreasing number of calories available as one ascends the food chain can support a lesser number of organisms in the link above.
Usually, one sees an adult person as the top link, because many biologists fail to ask, "Who feeds on nutrients produced by the adult female?" The breastfeeding infant or child does, and thus he or she is the topmost link in the food chain, one full link above the adults. The principle of biomagnification underlies the danger to these boys and girls at the top of the food chain. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, so as persistent pollutants, chemicals and toxins enter and ascend the food chain, they become more concentrated with each ascending (and less populous) link, usually by a factor of 10-100 per link.
Having Faith gracefully weaves two important stories together: the experiences of an ecologist who is a first time mother, from her first knowledge that she is pregnant with her daughter, Faith, until the beginning of weaning, and the challenges presented by environmental contaminants that cross the placenta and/or pollute human milk. In part one, a chapter is devoted to each month of her pregnancy and information about fetal toxicants. In part two, which begins when Faith is born, subsequent months and postpartum topics and hazardous contaminants are addressed. Each fascinating narrative is rich with anecdotes, interesting research findings and beautifully poetic and detailed descriptions of biological processes. Humorous experiences, like briefly getting half naked at a dinner with a university president and other dignitaries, balance the seriousness of the toxicology content.
Dr. Steingraber emphasizes the need to establish a monitoring system to track trends in breastmilk contamination in the U.S. The Stockholm Mothers' Milk Centre has been systematically monitoring Swedish data for thirty years, and has set the highest monitoring standards for human milk. In countries monitoring breastmilk contamination trends, contamination declines are associated with restrictions on manufacture and use of pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). But some data is ominous. Some declines seem to be plateauing, and some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) levels, notably polybrominated biphhenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of fire retardants found in home electronic equipment and home furnishings, are doubling every five years in Sweden.
Dr. Steingraber details and demystifies the alphabet soup of acronyms and abbreviations for threatening environmental contaminants, creating a readable and user-friendly introduction to some fundamentals of fetal and pediatric toxicology. The detailed index makes it easy to review information about specific toxicants. Steingraber's comments on recent research and the many gaps in current knowledge suggest countless research ideas. Each pregnant mother is a habitat who is capable of being proactive. Protecting unborn children from contaminants that cross the placenta and later, when the breast takes over the placenta's nurturing job, protecting the children from contaminants in breastmilk are worthy goals. With words meant to inspire courage rather than fear, and action rather than denial, Steingraber's call to action will touch the heart and inform the mind of anyone who is a health professional, is anticipating or experiencing pregnancy or who has ever fallen in love with a baby.