Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Lead in Food and Water

Risk of lead absorbed from food and water: The recent controversy about lead levels in Maggie Noodles
India seeks damages from Nestle after Maggi noodle lead scare
should trigger a wider debate. It is not just packaged food that may contain lead. 
Lead in drinking water
: You and your children can ingest lead from your drinking water. Visit
Lead Contamination of Drinking Water in India due to PVC Pipes 
Lead poisoning does not stop because lead levels are reduced:
Lead can accumulate in your body even over a period of months or years. There is nothing called a “safe blood lead level in children”. It does its damage as long as it is there, however low its level might be. Visit the page on lead on the website of the US Govt’s Centers for Disease Control.
Lead poisoning is dangerous:  The US Govt site referred above says “Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. And effects of lead exposure cannot be corrected”. It goes on to say that lead-based paint and lead contaminated dust are dangerous sources of lead for U.S. children. This is despite the fact that lead-based paints were banned for use in houses in the US in 1978.  The science magazine The New Scientist carried an article (in 2013) written by Perry Gottesfeld. The full text of this editorial can be viewed at:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829190.200-the-wests-toxichypocrisy-over-lead-paint.html#.Ub-ncJWPSS0Gottesfeld cites results from a study sponsored by the Gates Foundation, showing that more than 674,000 deaths around the world each year (2010 rates) are attributable to lead exposure (see http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61766-8/abstract ). This Lancet article also mentions that lead exposure can cause intellectual disability, heart disease and stroke.
Immersing painted idols in lakes and tanks is dangerous
: Immersing colourfully painted idols in tanks and lakes causes leaching of lead paint and can contaminate drinking water sources. India does not ban lead in paints; it only has a voluntary standard. It is said that 30% of the paints in the market, essentially from small time manufacturers have excessive lead content.  Visit
http://toxicslink.org/docs/Lead-in-Paint-Report-2015.pdf

1 comment:

Srinivasan Ramani said...

June 12, 2015
Bombay high court refuses to stay ban on Nestle’s Maggi noodles. Visit
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/xZvRorgJri2qULSUVCWCuM/Bombay-high-court-refuses-to-stay-ban-on-Nestles-Maggi-nood.html