Is Sodium Fluoride F 18 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 Sodium Fluoride F 18. The text below is quoted from that source — it is not our own verdict.
Summary of use during breastfeeding
Information in this record refers to the use of sodium fluoride F 18 as a diagnostic agent. The manufacturer recommends withholding breastfeeding for 24 hours after a diagnostic dose of 300-450 MBq (8 to 12 mCi); however, this time might be longer than necessary given the minimal amount of fluoride that appears in breastmilk. Twenty-four hours is about 10 half-lives of fluoride F 18 and less than 0.01% of the radioactivity administered will remain in the body. The mother can nurse just before administration of the radiopharmaceutical. If the mother has expressed and saved milk prior to the examination, she can feed it to the infant during the period of nursing interruption.[1,2]
Mothers concerned about the level of radioactivity in their milk could ask to have it tested at a nuclear medicine facility at their hospital. When the radioactivity is at background levels, they may safely resume breastfeeding. A method for measuring milk radioactivity and determining the time when a mother can safely resume breastfeeding has been published.[3]
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
F18 is a positron emitter with a principal decay energy of 0.6335 MeV, annihilation photons of 0.511 MeV, and a physical half-life of 1.8 hours and 0.07% of an administered dose appears in breastmilk.[4]
Maternal Levels. A study in one mother who received an oral dose of 25 mg of nonradioactive sodium fluoride found that milk fluoride concentrations closely paralleled maternal serum fluoride concentration at 21 to 32% of maternal serum levels over an 8-hour period. The authors estimated that this represents only 0.2% of the dose given to the mother.[5]
Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Sodium Fluoride F 18 is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Sodium Fluoride F 18” (LM1135). 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.