Is Coal Tar safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Coal Tar. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
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
Maternal Levels . A woman was treated with topical coal tar-containing medications for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. They were applied to the entire body except for the breasts and face. Treatment was started when the infant was 3 months old and continued for 50 days. Breastmilk was analyzed before treatment and on 11 occasions during therapy. Pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene were undetectable ( 0.0035 and 0.056 micromol/L, respectively). The pyrene metabolite, 1-hydroxypyrene, was detected in trace amounts in 3 of the 11 samples.[ 2 ] Infant Levels. A woman was treated with topical coal tar-containing medications for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. They were applied to the entire body except for the breasts and face. Treatment was started when the infant was 3 months old and continued for 50 days. The mother breastfed her infant (extent not stated) and the infant's urine was collected before the start of treatment and 4 times during maternal therapy with coal tar. The pyrene metabolite, 1-hydroxypyrene, was detected in all of the infant's urine samples. The baseline (pretreatment) concentration was 1.63 micromol/mol of creatinine. Subsequent (during maternal treatment) urine concentrations were 9.96, 97.1, 8.67 and 11.3 micromol/mol of creatinine. Since the mother's breastmilk contained no detectable pyrene or benzo[a]pyrene and only low levels of 1-hydroxypyrene, the authors postulated that the infant obtained the pyrene via skin-to-skin or skin-to-mouth contact with the mother and metabolized it to 1-hydroxypyrene.[ 2 ]
Alternatives LactMed lists
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.