Case of elevated blood lead in a South Asian family that has used Sindoor for food coloring.
After a routine blood testing, a local pediatrician discovered that a 13-month-old boy had an elevated blood lead level (BLL) of 57 microg/dL. Since the baby was mostly breast-fed, the pediatrician did a blood test on the mother, and the result showed a BLL of 85 microg/dL. As the mother denied any history of pica behavior, the pediatrician suspected a source of lead to which the entire family might have been exposed and tested the father's BLL. The results showed a BLL of 95 microg/dL, and the pediatrician informed the poison center. The subsequent epidemiological investigation revealed that the parents had used a product called Sindoor for food coloring. Laboratory analyses showed that the product contains more than 57.8% of acid-extractable lead by weight. Given the extremely high content of Pb in this product, Sindoor poses a serious risk of lead poisoning if it is used for food coloring.
Vassilev
Zdravko P
ZP
New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, Newark, New Jersey 07107, USA. zvassilev@njpies.org
Marcus
Steven M
SM
Ayyanathan
Karpukarasi
K
Ciuffo
Vincent
V
Bogden
John D
JD
Kemp
Francis W
FW
Ruck
Bruce
B
Jennis
Thelma
T
Jani
Nisha
N
Halperin
William
W
D001213:Asian; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000506:poisoning*; D005260:Female; D005505:Food Coloring Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D011859:Radiography; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
D003358:Cosmetics; D005505:Food Coloring Agents; D007854:Lead