Lead Poisoning

Childhood lead exposure, primarily from paint and water, is a significant health concern in the United States, but a new study has identified a surprising additional source of lead exposure that may disproportionately harm children: firearms. A team found an association between household firearm ownership and elevated lead levels in children's blood in 44 states, even when controlling for other major lead exposure sources. Childhood lead exposure, primarily from paint and water, is a significant health concern in the United States, but a new study has identified a surprising additional source of lead exposure that may disproportionately harm children: firearms. A team led by researchers at Brown University found an association between household firearm ownership and elevated lead levels in children's blood in 44 states, even when controlling for other major lead exposure sources. Lead exposure from firearms is far less explored than from recognized sources like water or lead-based paint, but may be equally dangerous for children's health, said Christian Hoover, a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology at Brown's School of Public Health, who is the lead author of the study published in the Journal of Pediatrics. "This is very concerning because we don't have a system of monitoring lead from firearm use, as we do with residential paint, and there is no system in place to minimize or prevent children's exposure to lead in firearms," Hoover said. "Firearm use is a relatively unchecked source of childhood exposure to lead. There's currently no way to stop the exposure from happening and no interventions when it does." In the study, the association between elevated lead levels and firearm use was almost as strong as the association for lead-based paint, Hoover noted. Lead levels in children in the United States have been persistently high for decades. While public health measures have been put in place to prevent and reduce childhood lead poisoning from paint and drinking water, blood lead levels haven't concordantly dropped in significant measures, Hoover said. Firearm-related take-home lead occurs when an individual discharges a firearm that uses lead-based ammunition and primer, which are the most commonly used in the United States, Hoover said. The lead dust settles on clothes and personal items, such as phones or bags, as well as in vehicles and common spaces. Children are more vulnerable to lead than adults due to their tendency to ingest contaminants through normal hand-to-mouth behaviors. "Typically the places where the firearm-related lead collects, such as in carpets, are places where young children spend a considerable amount of time," said Hoover, who is a co-investigator at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. A previous study led by Hoover found a link between firearms and elevated lead levels in children's blood in cities and towns in Massachusetts; this new study involved the 44 U.S. states that report public health data on child blood lead levels. Since there is no governmental database covering firearm ownership across states, the researchers used a widely-accepted proxy measure developed by the RAND Corporation to estimate state levels of household gun ownership. This metric combines data on firearm suicides, hunting licenses, subscriptions to Guns and Ammo magazine and background checks. They compared the data from the proxy measure with reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of blood lead concentration surveillance data for children under 6. The analysis spanned the years between 2012 and 2018. According to the study, for every 10% increase in the number of households that report owning a gun, there is an approximate 30% increase in cases of elevated pediatric blood lead levels. Childhood exposure to lead increases the risk of behavioral problems, reduced cognitive abilities and poor growth and development. There is no safe level of lead exposure, said Joseph Braun, a professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Children's Environmental Health at Brown. "Despite public health efforts to prevent or reduce childhood lead exposure, a substantial proportion of U.S. children are still exposed," Braun said. "Thus, we need to identify other modifiable sources of lead exposure in children's environments to protect their developing bodies and brains." The authors concluded that the data suggest firearms are a notable source of child lead exposure that requires more targeted research. Alan Fossa, a postdoctoral research associate in environmental health at Brown, also contributed to this study. This research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21 ES034187).

Did the ancient Greeks and Romans experience Alzheimer's? Medical texts from 2,500 years ago rarely mention severe memory loss, suggesting today's widespread dementia stems from modern environments and lifestyles, a new analysis shows. You might think age-related dementia has been with us all along, stretching back to the ancient world. But a new analysis of classical Greek and Roman medical texts suggests that severe memory loss -- occurring at epidemic levels today -- was extremely rare 2,000 to 2,500 years ago, in the time of Aristotle, Galen and Pliny the Elder. The USC-led research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, bolsters the idea that Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are diseases of modern environments and lifestyles, with sedentary behavior and exposure to air pollution largely to blame. "The ancient Greeks had very, very few -- but we found them -- mentions of something that would be like mild cognitive impairment," said first author Caleb Finch, a University Professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. "When we got to the Romans, and we uncovered at least four statements that suggest rare cases of advanced dementia -- we can't tell if it's Alzheimer's. So, there was a progression going from the ancient Greeks to the Romans." Ancient Greeks recognized that aging commonly brought memory issues we would recognize as mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, but nothing approaching a major loss of memory, speech and reasoning as caused by Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. Finch and co-author Stanley Burstein, a historian at California State University, Los Angeles, pored over a major body of ancient medical writing by Hippocrates and his followers. The text catalogs ailments of the elderly such as deafness, dizziness and digestive disorders -- but makes no mention of memory loss. Centuries later in ancient Rome, a few mentions crop up. Galen remarks that at the age of 80, some elderly begin to have difficulty learning new things. Pliny the Elder notes that the senator and famous orator Valerius Messalla Corvinus forgot his own name. Cicero prudently observed that "elderly silliness … is characteristic of irresponsible old men, but not of all old men." Finch speculates that as Roman cities grew denser, pollution increased, driving up cases of cognitive decline. In addition, Roman aristocrats used lead cooking vessels, lead water pipes and even added lead acetate into their wine to sweeten it -- unwittingly poisoning themselves with the powerful neurotoxin. (A few ancient writers recognized the toxicity of lead-containing material, but little progress was made in dealing with the problem until well into the 20th century. Some scholars blame lead poisoning for the fall of the Roman Empire.) For this paper, Finch did not just think about the Roman Empire or the Greeks. In the absence of demographic data for ancient Greece and Rome, Finch turned to a surprising model for ancient aging: today's Tsimane Amerindians, an Indigenous people of the Bolivian Amazon. The Tsimane -- like the ancient Greeks and Romans -- have a preindustrial lifestyle that is very physically active, and they have extremely low rates of dementia. An international team of cognitive researchers led by Margaret Gatz, a professor of psychology, gerontology and preventive medicine at the USC Leonard Davis School, found among older Tsimane people, only about 1% suffer from dementia. In contrast, 11% of people aged 65 and older living in the United States have dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. "The Tsimane data, which is quite deep, is very valuable," Finch said. "This is the best-documented large population of older people that have minimal dementia, all of which indicates that the environment is a huge determinant on dementia risk. They give us a template for asking these questions." The paper was supported by funds from the Cure Alzheimer's Fund and the National Institutes of Health (P01 AG055367 and R01 AG05442).

MONDAY, Jan. 8, 2024 -- Applesauce fruit puree pouches under recall and investigation for toxic lead levels may also contain another toxin, chromium, according to an update released Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The products under recall are WanaBana, Weis and Schnucks brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches. All were made by AustroFoods at a facility in Ecuador that is currently under FDA inspection. High lead levels appear tied to cinnamon used in the applesauce that was supplied by another company, Negasmart, the FDA said. At least 287 confirmed, probable and suspect cases of lead poisoning linked to tainted fruit puree pouches have now been reported in 37 states, according to the latest update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Now chromium has emerged as another possible toxin. "After additional analysis of both recalled cinnamon apple products and the cinnamon collected from the manufacturer in Ecuador, FDA has determined that, in addition to lead, the cinnamon and recalled products also contained a high level of chromium," the FDA announced in its Friday update. Chromium is a naturally occurring element that comes in various forms. According to the CDC, chromium III is an essential nutrient, while chromium VI is known to cause cancer. At this time, however, FDA "was not able to definitively determine the form of chromium in the cinnamon apple puree sample," the agency said. In any case, "people who ate recalled products, especially if they had elevated blood lead levels, may have been exposed to chromium and should inform their healthcare provider so they can monitor health and provide supportive care, as needed," the FDA said. Ongoing investigation Meanwhile, investigation into U.S. lead poisoning cases tied to the applesauce pouches continues. The median age for cases in the investigation "is nearly 2 years old," a CDC spokesperson told CBS News , though reports have come in for children as old as 9. Federal officials have urged state health departments to seek out cases of lead poisoning, which could be missed if children who ate lead-tainted applesauce don't get blood tests from their doctor for the toxic metal. AustroFoods said last month that it will reimburse customers up to $150 for lead tests. In early December, FDA said the tainted fruit puree pouches were found to contain levels of toxic lead that were 2,000 times higher than proposed standards. Tests conducted at an Ecuadorean facility run by Austrofoods found that cinnamon supplied to the plant by another company, Negasmart, contained "extremely high levels of lead contamination, 5110 parts per million (ppm) and 2270 ppm," the FDA said in its update. To put that into context, an international body charged with setting lead limits in bark-sourced spices such as cinnamon "is considering adopting a maximum level of 2.5 ppm for lead in bark spices," the FDA said. 'Intentional act' Speaking to Politico in early December, an FDA source said the cinnamon used in the recalled applesauce may have been deliberately tainted. "We’re still in the midst of our investigation," Jim Jones , the FDA's deputy commissioner for human foods, told Politico . "But so far all of the signals we’re getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out.” “My instinct is they didn’t think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process,” Jones said. “They thought it was going to end up in places that did not have the ability to detect something like this.” According to Politico , the FDA suspects the deliberate adulteration of cinnamon included in the applesauce products was "economically motivated." The FDA said Negasmart, the source of the tainted cinnamon, is now operating under an “Ecuadorian administrative sanctions process.” Jones told Politico that food adulteration outside the United States “is always going to be tricky to absolutely stop, if somebody has intent to purposefully do something like this.” An FDA spokesperson also told Politico : “We have limited authority over foreign ingredient suppliers that do not directly ship product to the U.S. because their food undergoes further manufacturing/processing prior to export.” Still, he said, “we’re going to chase that data and find whoever was responsible and hold them accountable." Advice to parents So far, sample analysis of WanaBana, Weis and Schnucks fruit puree pouches that do not contain cinnamon and are not part of the recall have not shown elevated levels of lead. In its initial alert on the recall issued in late October, the FDA said four children in North Carolina were the first to be found to have high levels of lead in their blood that was linked to the WanaBana products. By law, food manufacturers have a responsibility to prevent chemical hazards when needed, the FDA noted. This includes measures to lower or eliminate the presence of lead in their products. The FDA has warned families not to eat or serve these products and encourages them to throw out the pouches or return them to the store where they were purchased for a refund. Caregivers should take any children who may have eaten these products to have blood tests to check for lead exposure, the CDC added. Lead is toxic to humans, particularly children, and there is no safe level of exposure, the CDC says. Exposure can cause developmental delays in children. Initial symptoms of lead poisoning may include head, stomach and muscle aches, vomiting, anemia, irritability, fatigue and weight loss. Sources U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health alert, Dec. 29, 2023 U.S. Food and Drug Administration, health alerts, Jan. 5, 2024, Dec. 26 and Nov. 17, 2023 Politico CBS News Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions. Posted January 2024 More news resources FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts Daily MedNews News for Health Professionals New Drug Approvals New Drug Applications Drug Shortages Clinical Trial Results Generic Drug Approvals Subscribe to our newsletter Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.