Is Lindane safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what LactMed, the Drugs and Lactation Database published by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reports about Lindane. The text below is quoted from that source — it is not our own verdict.
Summary of use during breastfeeding
Topical application of lindane can increase lindane milk levels for at least several days. Because it is potentially toxic in infants, is a persistent environmental contaminant, and possibly has estrogenic effects that could decrease lactation as well as affect the nursing infant, another agent should be used rather than lindane.[1-4]
Effects on the breastfed infant
In a telephone follow-up study, 9 mothers used lindane topically for head lice during breastfeeding. One reported irritability in her breastfed infant.[8]
Effects on milk supply
Hexachlorocyclohexane appears to have some estrogenic activity which theoretically could suppress lactation.[6]
Levels in milk
Lindane (gamma-benzenehexachloride; gamma-Hexachlorocyclohexane) is a fat-soluble insecticide that is a persistent environmental contaminant. Residues from its use as a pesticide are found in food and subsequently in breastmilk, particularly the milkfat. Recent data from the United States are lacking, but levels appear to be trending downward in industrialized countries.[5] Hexachlorocyclohexane appears to have some estrogenic activity.[6]
Maternal Levels. A German woman with a 2-month-old breastfed infant was treated with lindane 0.3% lotion (the product available in the United States contains 1%) for scabies. The lotion was left on for 24 hours, then washed off. The extent of application was not stated, but is usually applied to all skin from the neck down. A baseline lindane concentration in breastmilk was not obtained, but the average value of lindane in mothers' milk in Germany from pesticides in the food chain at the time of the study was 30 mcg/kg of milk fat. Milk from day 4 to 10 contained lindane in the range of 500 to 900 mcg/kg of milk fat. After another repeat application of lindane, lindane was found in aa concentration of 2000 mcg/kg on day 11. Additional measurements on days 18 and 26 were 600 mcg/kg and 400 mcg/kg, respectively.[7]
Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Alternatives LactMed lists
Source: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Lindane” (LM500). LactMed on NCBI Bookshelf. LactMed is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.