Word: lead
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...team visited 15 Indian specialty stores in the Boston area and purchased 71 cultural powders and 86 spices and food products. About 25% of the food items, including spices such as cardamom, fenugreek and chili powder, contained more than 1 microgram of lead per gram of product. About 65% of the ceremonial powders, including sindoor, which is used as a symbol of marriage, contained the same amount. Those levels are below the E.U.'s acceptable threshold of 2 to 3 mcg/g of lead, but the study's authors say that regardless of the amount, the presence of lead in these...
With repeated exposure at high enough levels, lead can cause cognitive damage and behavioral changes in children. In most cases, lead poisoning can be treated by reducing the child's exposure and by making sure he or she eats a balanced diet with sufficient iron, calcium and vitamin C - deficiencies in these can increase the body's absorption of lead. In extreme cases of extended lead exposure, doctors use drugs called chelating agents, which bind to the lead and pull it out of the body through urine. In severe cases of prolonged poisoning, however, the cognitive and developmental damage...
Studies have shown that a blood level of 10 mcg of lead per deciliter of blood is associated with potentially irreversible harm, although recent studies have shown that as little as 5 mcg/dL can also be dangerous. By extrapolating from their data, researchers estimated that if a population of children under age 4 was routinely exposed to Indian spices or ceremonial powders, the additional ingestion of lead would lead to a threefold increase - from 0.8% to 2.8% - in the percentage of children with a blood level of lead over 10 mcg/dL. "Our message is to say, Be aware of these...
Although the majority of lead-poisoning cases in the U.S., about two-thirds, occur when young children lick or ingest lead-containing paint as it peels or chips off walls, the new study reminds doctors and parents that they need to be aware of less obvious sources. Imported products such as the ones studied by the Boston group are a particular problem, since environmental standards around the world are not the same as they are in the U.S. In countries like India, for example, leaded gasoline is still commonly used in cars (in the U.S. it was replaced by unleaded...
Currently the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of food products imported into the U.S., does not have specific guidelines for screening lead in dried products like spices. That's because the FDA feels there is no safe level of lead in dried products, since studies have not yet established that lead exposure doesn't lead to adverse health effects...