New study finds arsenic in infant formula, cereal bars - organic brown rice syrup as a sweetener

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New study finds arsenic in infant formula, cereal bars

Feb 16, 2012 6:00 AM

http://news.consumerreports.org/health/2012/02/new-study-finds-arsenic-in-infant\

-formula-cereal-bars.html

Arsenic has been found in some foods that use organic brown rice syrup

as a sweetener, including infant formula and cereal bars, according to a

new study by researchers at Dartmouth College. The majority of the

detected arsenic, a contaminant often found in rice, was the type that

is known to be a human carcinogen.

Important findings of the study,

published online Feb. 16

<http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/aop.action?catName=Ahead%20of%20Print>

by the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives include:

= = = =

Treatment of autism spectrum children with thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl

disulfide: a pilot study. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12195231>

Lonsdale D, Shamberger RJ, Audhya T.

Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2002 Aug;23(4):303-8.

RESULTS: At the beginning of the study thiamine deficiency was observed

in 3 out of the 10 patients. Out of 10 patients, 6 had initial urine

samples containing arsenic in greater concentration than healthy

controls. Traces of mercury were seen in urines from all of these

autistic children. Following administration of TTFD an increase in

cadmium was seen in 2 children and in lead in one child. Nickel was

increased in the urine of one patient during treatment. Sulfur

metabolites in urine did not differ from those measured in healthy children.

CONCLUSIONS: Thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide appears to have a

beneficial clinical effect on some autistic children, since 8 of the 10

children improved clinically. We obtained evidence of an association of

this increasingly occurring disease with presence of urinary SH-reactive

metals, arsenic in particular.