title: Acute high-dose lead exposure from beverage contaminated by traditional Mexican pottery.
abstract: Screening and follow-up blood lead measurements in a 7-year-old child of a US Embassy official in Mexico City revealed an increase in blood lead concentration from 1.10 to 4.60 mumol/L in less than 4 weeks. The cause was traced to fruit punch contaminated with lead leached from traditional ceramic pottery urns. Consumption of the contaminated punch at a picnic was associated with a 20% increase in blood lead concentrations among embassy staff and dependants who were tested 6 weeks after the exposure. This episode highlights the continued health risk, even from brief exposure, posed by traditional pottery in Mexico.
authors.affiliation: Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Matte
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proops
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palazuelos
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Graef
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernandez Avila
mesh_terms: D002516:Ceramics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico
chemical_list: D007854:Lead