Events & Issues

New Delhi, 15 June 2015

Lead Contamination

HAZARDOUS, ENFORCE RULES

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

The idiom ‘better late than never’ appropriately applies to the country’s food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). It has finally decided to tighten the noose and hopefully should set focus on various food and health supplements. This could cover a range of imported food items, specially protein and other supplements sold without medical supervision. Moreover, the claims by well-known FMCG brands that their products are health drinks need to be investigated.

Experts believe that the Maggi noodle controversy is possibly the tip of the iceberg and reports would only prove the efficacy of claims. Tests may well reveal whether the MNC companies, who normally hold sway over the market, are adhering to the prevalent rules and not making false claims.

Over the years, the multinationals have more or less controlled the Indian consumer market and till a few years back, were allowed to get away with their claims. It is only in recent years that the Government has taken initiatives to ensure that national and international regulations are adhered to, but the move is unfortunately haphazard. Even today, there are various products in the market by big and powerful companies that advertise their products they can never prove from the scientific standpoint.   

Unfortunately, it is the poor and the economically weaker sections that are affected and after the ailment don’t have the financial resources to get treatment. Thus, the big MNCs cannot be allowed to make huge profits from the Indian consumer market. The food safety regulator should be given more powers and authority to carry out periodic checks without fear or favour and make their reports available to the State governments for compliance.   

Documents so far released by the FSSAI, which works under the Health Ministry, suggest that lead and MSG (monosodium glutamate) found in excess could have devastating consequences, which could impair the mental growth of children. Research studies by health and toxicology experts from across the country have documented lead in a variety of processed and raw food products such as chocolates, milk, vegetables, fish and water.

Scientists say the primary sources of environmental lead are lead paints, backyard recycling of lead batteries and water plumbing materials among others. A Toxics Link survey from SMEs from Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra found around 30 per cent of samples with lead values greater than 10,000 ppm though the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) had set a code of 90 ppm.

The practice of immersing painted idols in rivers and lakes results in lead being deposited in water, which obviously finds way to the food chain. A painted idol of just 2 kg idol could deposit at least 8 to 10 gm of lead into the water.  Even traditional ayurvedic medicines are reported to contain lead, sometimes more than permissible limit power.

The most sensitive target of lead poisoning is the nervous system. In children, neurologic deficits have been documented at exposure levels once thought to cause no harmful effects. Exposure to lead can have a wide range of effects on a child’s development and behavior. Even when exposed to small amounts of lead levels, children may appear inattentive, hyperactive and irritable. Children with greater lead levels may also have problems with learning and reading, delayed growth and hearing loss. At high levels, lead can cause permanent brain damage and even death.

Lead inhibits the body’s ability to make hemoglobin by interfering with several enzymatic steps in the heme pathway. Ferrochelatase, which catalyzes the insertion of iron into protoporphyrin IX, is sensitive to lead. A decrease in the activity of this enzyme results in an increase of the substrate, erythrocyte (EP), in the red blood cells. Lead can induce two types of anemia. Acute high-level lead poisoning has been associated with hemolytic anemia. In chronic lead poisoning, lead induces anemia by diminishing red blood cell survival.

Lead toxicity has endocrine effects. A strong inverse correlation exists between blood lead levels and levels of vitamin D. Because the vitamin D-endocrine system is responsible in a large part for the maintenance of extra-and intra-cellular calcium homeostasis, it is likely that lead impairs cell growth and maturation and tooth and bone development.

Long back, scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre documented the presence of lead among other heavy metals in chocolates and candies. They calculated that a child who eats 20 grams of chocolate daily would on an average ingest about 270 micrograms lead in a week. Other studies detected lead in buffalo milk in Chennai and Hyderabad, vegetables in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal, paddy grown in Odisha and several species of fish in the Cauvery.

Maggi thus is not the only food product with chemicals that can cause organ damage. Almost every ready-made or pre-packaged food – pastas, sauce, potato chips and soft drinks – comes with a host of colouring agents, artificial sweeteners and preservatives that doctors say can adversely impact health.

Only in recent times has unleaded fuel been introduced. The lead that was earlier emitted into the air settled on the earth and permeated the soil. In many metros and big cities, one can see lead acid batteries being dismantled openly, releasing lead particles into the air and soil. Experts point out, and quite rightly, that specially in urban areas there is virtually no way of escaping this contamination. 

While arsenic contamination is rampant in Bengal, Bihar and Assam and the resultant effects have caused severe health hazards, the threat of lead contamination has major consequences on human health. Ingested lead may accumulate in the brain, liver, kidneys and the bones. According to toxicology experts, children are particularly vulnerable and lead poisoning can result in their intellectual deterioration. In adults, lead can increase the risk of high blood pressure while pregnant women exposed to high levels of lead face the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth. 

Excess salt, which happens to be a major preservative used in ready-to-meat meals, is a known cause of high blood pressure and is responsible for around 60 per cent of heart attacks and over 40 per cent stroke cases, according to the World Health Organization. In India, people normally consume excess salt that WHO mandated 5 gm per day and eating packaged food would increase the intake significantly.  

Since it is an established fact the neurological damage caused by even low levels of lead is long term and often irreversible, the best solution to check lead poisoning is to prevent it by controlling lead hazards in the environment before the poisoning occurs. Therefore, people must be made aware of the chemically contaminated communities and must be warned of the consequences of ignoring the threat of lead both in our environment and food. There should be no short cuts. ----INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)