Some of the contaminants identified are known to have the ability to cause

"Some of the contaminants identified are known to have the ability to cause cancer and some are able to impair the immune system," it says. Chemicals from dry-cleaning and nappy-bucket disinfectants had also been found.In all, the report says, more than 350 chemicals have been found in breast milk in different studies around the world. It discloses "widespread contamination of mother's milk".The report not only shows that highly poisonous dioxins have been found in breast milk, but pesticides like DDT and lindane have also been found, as have PCBs, notoriously toxic chemicals used in a whole range of applications from electrical transformers to paint. The survey will analyse the milk for a vast range of pollutants, including dioxins, pesticides, "gender bender" chemicals that disrupt hormones and have been found to cause bizarre sex changes in animals, and toxic metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic.The report was commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature, UK, from Gwynne Lyons, a new member of the Health and Safety Executive's advisory committee on toxic substances.

Most seriously, an authoritative scientific report to be published tomorrow will show that two-month-old British infants are taking in 42 times the safe level of dioxin in breast milk. The Government is to start a major survey to gather further evidence on the extent of the contamination. MORE THAN 350 contaminants have been found in breast milk. They include chemicals from perfumes, suntan oil, and dry-cleaning fluids, as well as pesticides and industrial raw materials, some of which cause cancer, impair the immune system and disrupt sex hormones. The alliance's workers in Sombor, 105 miles north-west of Belgrade, where the municipality is one of several which has demanded that the president should go, were told petition-signing could take place only inside the organisation's offices.Although police have detained activists in several cities, they have not stopped rallies from taking place..

Mr Milosevic's situation is precarious, but he is used to that, and he knows how to fight back.Yesterday, according to the independent Beta news agency, police in northern Serbia prevented activists from the Alliance for Change, an anti-government group, from collecting signatures for a petition calling on Mr Milosevic to resign. Few Serbs have jobs, and many of those who do rarely get paid. Nato forces are currently investigating a site near Pec which may contain as many as 350 bodies. That would make it the largest mass grave discovered so far.Serbs' reasons for protesting against the Yugoslav leader are varied and confused: demonstrators blame him for fighting the Kosovo war, for losing the war, or simply for the catastrophic state of the economy. He also repeated his call for Mr Milosevic to be held to account for massacres of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Yesterday Patriarch Pavle, leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, said the opposition included good people who could run the country better - if only they ended their in-fighting. Mr Perovic insisted: "This is our last offer - this is our minimum We won't accept any answer but `yes'. No `yes, but...'."The Montenegrin parliament looks set to raise the stakes this week by voting for a separate Montenegrin citizenship - in effect, a warm-up act for independence.In Serbia, there have been demonstrations against Mr Milosevic in recent days, and more seem likely. He said: "[Secession] can't happen without war, because the Montenegrins are Serbs."The Montenegrins are unwilling to back down, however.

Montenegrins will be asked to decide whether they want a looser form of federation with Serbia. But although talks are due in Belgrade this week, Mr Milosevic has shown no sign of acceding to such a proposal.Vojislav Seselj, a powerful Serb nationalist leader, confirmed from Belgrade that the Montenegrins' fears of conflict if they tried to go it alone were justified. A referendum on independence, unthinkable until recently, is due to take place before the end of the year. Miodrag Vukovic, chief strategist of President Milo Djukanovic, warned: "I'm afraid Milosevic will make conflict in Montenegro." If that happened, he said, "You can forget Bosnia, Kosovo, everything. It would be like brother fighting brother."Montenegro has been increasingly trying in recent months to escape the dead hand of Belgrade. The result could unleash a bloody civil war as a diversion from Mr Milosevic's own domestic troubles. Yesterday, Montenegro's Foreign Minister, Branko Perovic, described the Serbs' move as "illegal" and "unconstitutional"."It's a provocation," he told The Independent on Sunday. "It's their way of seeking to provoke the situation." The pro-Milosevic force would be backed up by the still-powerful Yugoslav army in Montenegro, if there is a clash of wills between the two sides.Montenegrin officials warn that such clashes could make even previous Balkan horrors pale.