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It is presented as a health enhancer and a healing agent, but it can be the source of cognitive defects and other serious ailments. A new study by Stanford reveals that turmeric – a spice commonly used in Southeast Asia – is sometimes adulterated with a lead-based chemical compound in Bangladesh, one of the world's major turmeric regions. cultivated.
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Long banned from food products, lead is a powerful neurotoxin considered dangerous in any quantity. A recently published related analysis confirms for the first time that turmeric is probably the main culprit in raising blood lead levels among Bangladeshi respondents.
"People are unconsciously consuming something that could cause major health problems," said Jenna Forsyth, lead author of the journal, a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Woods Environmental Institute. "We know that adulterated turmeric is a source of lead exposure, and we need to do something about it."
A long-standing problem
The first study, available online at Environmental researchincludes a variety of analyzes, including interviews with farmers and spice processors in several districts of Bangladesh, which together produce nearly half of the nation's turmeric. Many traced the question in the 1980s, when a massive flood made turmeric crops wet and relatively dull in color. The demand for turmeric processors bright yellow has led turmeric processors to add lead chromate – an industrial yellow pigment commonly used to color toys and furniture – to their product. The practice continued as an inexpensive and quick way to produce a desirable color.
Powerful neurotoxin
As a potent neurotoxin, lead increases the risk of heart and brain diseases in adults and interferes with the development of children's brains. About 90% of children with high blood lead levels live in low-income countries, and the resulting cognitive damage is associated with a loss of productivity of nearly one trillion dollars a year.
A merchant exposes whole and powdered spices, including turmeric in the Karwan Bazar of Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Image credit: Abir Abdullah / Asian Development Bank)
"Unlike other metals, there is no limit of safe consumption for lead, it is a neurotoxin in its entirety," said lead author Stephen Luby, professor of medicine and director of research Stanford Center for Global Health Innovation. "We can not console ourselves by proposing that had the contamination been such and such, it would have been safe."
The related study, published on September 17 in Environmental Science and Technology, examined various potential sources of lead contamination in the blood of Bangladeshis. Lead comes in various forms, called isotopes, and the ratios of these isotopes vary depending on the origin of the lead. The researchers were able to identify lead chromate adulterated turcuma as the most likely culprit by comparing it to lead isotopes in people's blood. This research is the first to establish a direct link between lead in turmeric and lead levels in the blood.
Beyond Bangladesh
Researchers have not found direct evidence of the presence of contaminated turmeric beyond Bangladesh. They also pointed out that the food security controls carried out by the importing countries had prompted Bangladesh's major spice processors to limit the amount of lead added to turmeric for export. However, the researchers point out, "the current system of periodic food safety controls only concerns a fraction of the adulterated turmeric marketed around the world". In fact, since 2011, more than 15 brands of turmeric – distributed in countries like the United States – have been recalled due to excessive levels of lead.
Although these recalls and previous studies have revealed the presence of lead in turmeric, none has clearly identified the source (some have suggested that it could be related to soil contamination), or proved the link with lead levels in the blood, nor did it reveal the generalized nature of the problem and the incentives to perpetuate it.
Towards solutions
Since 2014, Terry Huffington's Forsyth, Luby, and Scott Fendorf at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences – co-authors of both papers – have worked in rural areas in Bangladesh to assess lead exposure. With funding from the Stanford Woods Environmental Institute, they first conducted an assessment of the population that revealed that more than 30% of pregnant women had lead levels in the high blood.
Researchers now plan to focus on changing consumer behavior in the consumption of contaminated turmeric and reducing incentives to practice. They suggest more efficient drying technologies for the treatment of turmeric. They also recommend to import inspectors around the world to control turmeric by means of x-ray machines capable of detecting lead and other chemicals.
Although few low-cost responses appear to be available in Bangladesh, the researchers suggested involving consumers, producers, and other stakeholders with a focus on food safety and public health, which could provide the foundation for a solution. To this end, Forsyth, Luby and Fendorf are part of an interdisciplinary project team, funded by the Stanford King Center for Global Development, seeking solutions to reduce lead exposure from turmeric, battery recycling and other sources in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
Among other goals, the team plans to develop business opportunities that reduce lead exposure. A member of the team, bio-engineer Manu Prakash, is developing inexpensive technologies to measure lead in turmeric, blood and other sources. Other collaborators, Shilajeet Banerjee and Erica Plambeck, are exploring ways to change demand and create business opportunities for lead-free turmeric.
"Jenna's remarkable work allows us to work with stakeholders in Bangladesh to target effective prevention," said Luby.
Luby is also a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, a member of Stanford Bio-X and a member of Institute for Research on Child Health. Luby, Fendorf and Plambeck are principal investigators of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Plambeck is Stanford's Charles A. Holloway Professor of Operations, Information and Technology Graduate School of Business. Banerjee is a professor of practice at Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. The co-authors also include Nicole Ardoin, Associate Professor at Stanford's Graduate School of Education and a senior member of Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
The environmental research study includes co-authors from the International Center for Research on Diarrheal Diseases of Bangladesh and Johns Hopkins University.
Stanford co-authors of the Environmental Science & Technology study include Karrie Weaver, research and development researcher at Stanford's School of Earth Sciences, Energy and Environment; Kate Maher, Associate Professor of Earth System Science and Senior Member at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Other co-authors come from the International Center for Research on Diarrheal Diseases in Bangladesh.
Funding for the two studies provided by the Stanford Woods Institute for the EnvironmentFrom Stanford Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, the Stanford King Center on Global Development and Stanford Center for Southeast Asia. The United States Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also funded the study on lead exposure in blood.
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