Re: Nuclear Sludge Candies Recalled for High Lead Content

[Guest guest]

How much lead lowers the IQ?

>

> Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge is the name of a US candy?? Have we become a nation

of Mikey's where we can't even tell adults when something's healthy or we won't

eat it or serve it to our children? As I wrote on my recent blog

http://pursuitofresearch.org/2011/01/28/taco-bell-eat-first-ask-questions-later

most are less scared of junk " food " than real food that is known to be healthy.

And by the way even LOW levels of lead are linked to lowering the IQ in children

....The FDA says you are still free to buy the rest of the Toxic Waste line of

" candies " Ugh!

>

>

> " Nuclear Sludge " Candies Recalled for High Lead Content

> By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

> Published: January 29, 2011

>

> The U.S. marketers of " Nuclear Sludge " imported from Pakistan issued a

voluntary recall of their 0.3-oz. candy product because it contains elevated

levels of lead that may cause health problems in some patients.

>

> Circle City Marketing and Distributing branch Candy Dynamics extended a

previous recall from Jan. 13, 2011 of " Toxic Waste " brand Nuclear Sludge 0.7-oz.

Chew Bar candies to include all products under the Nuclear Sludge label, a

statement from the company said.

>

> Product tests performed by the company found the smaller Nuclear Sludge

candies contained 0.101 to 0.311 parts per million (ppm) of lead, above the FDA

limit of 0.1 ppm of lead allowed.

>

> Earlier tests on the larger-size candies found some samples of the

cherry-flavored bar contained 0.24 ppm of lead.

>

> Infants, small children, and pregnant women are most at risk for potential

health risks after ingesting these elevated levels of lead, the statement said.

>

> The recall affects all lots and flavors of the 0.7 and 0.3 oz candy products,

including:

>

> * Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Cherry (UPC 0 89894 81901 1)

> * Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Green Apple (UPC 0 89894 81701 7)

> * Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Blue Raspberry (UPC 0 89894 81801 4)

> * Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Cherry Chew Bar (UPC 0 89894 81430 6)

> * Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Sour Apple Chew Bar (UPC 0 10684 81410 7)

> * Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Blue Raspberry Chew Bar (UPC 0 89894 81420 7)

>

> The smaller candies were sold in 30-, 80-, and 120-count " Party Bags, " and

120-count fish bowls. The products were sold in retail stores and through mail

order, the statement said.

>

> The recall does not affect any other products under the Toxic Waste brand, the

statement said.

> http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/FDAGeneral/24593

>

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

" children who have blood lead concentration lower than 10 micrograms per

deciliter suffer intellectual impairment from the exposure "

There's actually more on this and it's not new information so I'm shocked that

the media keeps saying that only higher levels are dangerous. I mean the low

levels lower the IQ by points...would any of us know if our child's IQ was

lowered by points? Here's the one study:

April 16, 2003 - Very Low Lead Levels Linked With IQ Deficits

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

A new study suggests that lead may be harmful even at very low blood

concentrations. The study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental

Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, will appear in the April

17 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The five-year study found that children who have blood lead concentration lower

than 10 micrograms per deciliter suffer intellectual impairment from the

exposure. The researchers also discovered that the amount of impairment

attributed to lead was most pronounced at lower levels. The study was carried

out by researchers from Cornell University, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Medical Center, and the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

An important feature of this new study is its focus on children with blood lead

levels below 10 micrograms per deciliter, a threshold currently used by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to define an elevated lead

level. Previous research has been concerned primarily with lead's effects in the

10 to 30 micrograms per deciliter range, yet the new study finds lead-related

impairments at lower levels.

" In this sample of children we find that most of the damage to intellectual

functioning occurs at blood lead concentrations that are below 10 micrograms per

deciliter, " said Canfield, PhD, division of Nutritional Sciences at

Cornell University and primary author on the study. The amount of impairment

attributed to lead exposure was much greater than the researchers had expected.

" We were surprised to find that in our study the IQ scores of children who had

blood lead levels of 10 micrograms per deciliter were about 7 points lower than

for children with levels of 1 microgram per deciliter, " Canfield said.

At the same time, the study found that an increase in blood lead from 10 to 30

micrograms per deciliter is associated with only a small additional decline in

IQ. " Because most prior research focused on children with higher exposures than

in our sample, we suspected that those investigators could estimate only the

amount of additional damage that occurs after blood lead has reached 10

micrograms per deciliter -- unaware that more damage may occur at lower levels, "

said , MA, department of Human Development at Cornell.

Deborah Cory-Slechta, PhD, director of the NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences

Center at University of Rochester School of Medicine, said, " Our study also

emphasizes the need to understand the behavioral deficits indicated by lower IQ

scores. "

Before 1970, childhood lead poisoning was defined by a blood lead concentration

greater than 60 micrograms per deciliter. Since then, the threshold used to

define an elevated blood lead level declined several times, before reaching the

current value of 10 micrograms per deciliter. Under this definition, more than

one in every 50 children in the United States between the ages of 1 and 5 years

is adversely affected by lead, which has been linked to lowered intelligence,

behavioral problems and diminished school performance. Nearly 1 in 10 young

children have a lead level above 5 micrograms per deciliter, according to CDC

figures.

" Our study suggests that there is no discernable threshold for the adverse

effects of lead exposure and that many more children than previously estimated

are affected by this toxin, " said Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH, Cincinnati Children's

and director of the hospital's Children's Environmental Health Center. " Despite

a dramatic decline over the last two decades in the prevalence of children who

have blood lead concentrations above 10 micrograms per deciliter, these data

underscore the increasing importance of prevention. "

The study followed 172 children in the Rochester, NY, area whose blood lead was

assessed at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months, and who were tested for IQ at

both 3 and 5 years of age. The researchers controlled for many other factors

that contribute to a child's intellectual functioning, such as birth weight,

mother's intelligence, income, education and amount of stimulation in the home.

" Any detectable effect occurring from such a widespread exposure is cause for

concern, " Walter J. Rogan, MD, said. Rogan is a NIEHS researcher who has studied

lead exposure in children but was not an author on the study. " Relatively small

changes in the mean IQ of a large number of children will dramatically increase

the proportion of children below any fixed level of concern, such as an IQ of

80, and decrease the proportion above any 'gifted' level such as 120, " Rogan

said.

The authors of the study are L. Canfield, PhD, and R. ,

Jr, MA, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Deborah A. Cory Slechta, PhD, University

of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY; , PhD, National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD; Todd

A. Jusko, PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; and Bruce P. Lanphear, MD,

Cincinnati Children's. NIEHS funds centers for environmental and children's

health at University of Rochester, University of Cincinnati, and University of

Washington.

Contact Information

Jim Feuer, 513-636-4656, jfeuer@...

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