Risk of Lead Poisoning Linked to Indian Spices and Powders: Study

A new study links a high rate of lead poisoning in some children to Indian spices and ceremonial powders, which contained a higher than expected amount of lead. 

The study, published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics, found that several reports of lead poisoning among Indian children in the Boston area were linked to Indian spices used in traditional dishes and ceremonies. The spices, such as cardamom, fenugreek and chili powder contained high amounts of lead.

The researchers, from Children’s Hospital Boston and the Harvard School of Public Health, tested nearly 160 different cultural powders, spices and food products and found that most of the products tested contained more than 1 microgram per milliliter (1 µg/mL). The FDA has an enforceable action level of .5 micrograms of lead per milliliter in food. Some products, such as sindoor, Sindav salt and one type sindaloo powder, were found to contain many times that amount.

Researchers say that even when the levels are not dangerous, but still high, the products can add to the overall amount of lead exposure, cumulatively causing elevated blood lead levels in children. The effect could be especially exacerbated when multiple powders are used frequently in one household for a variety of uses.

Blood lead levels traditionally considered to be lead poisoning can result in nervous system injury, brain damage, seizures or convulsions, growth or mental retardation, coma and even death. Most cases of elevated lead blood levels in children are caused by exposure to lead paint, which is still present in many older homes throughout the United States. If the paint flakes off the wall, young children could ingest the paint chips or breathe in the dust, causing elevated levels of lead in the blood.

Recent studies have also found that lead exposure could be a leading cause of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can cause depression and panic disoders in young adults, and have also suggested that even low levels of lead exposure can cause kidney damage in children.