Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Treats are toxic tricks

What it does

Lead stops the body's absorption of calcium and iron. It kills brain cells and attacks the central nervous system, leading to decreased IQ and behavioral problems.

Lead and kids

Lead poisoning wreaks the most havoc on children under age 6 because they are developing so quickly and because they absorb and retain greater amounts of lead, University of Nevada School of Medicine pediatrician Andrew Eisen said. A child absorbs 50 percent of the lead he ingests or inhales, while adults absorb about 10 percent.

Tests

UNLV researchers bought Mexican candy from stores around UNLV. These candies tested positive for lead:

When Brinley Middle School health teacher Tracy Donnelly came across a poster detailing Mexican candies tainted with lead, she decided to check with her students.

She was shocked when several of her junior high students pulled from their pockets candies that had tested high in lead in a report published last year by the Orange County Register.

One 13-year-old girl who was eating a chili and tamarind candy was also suffering from headaches and stomach pain, two of the symptoms described on the poster, reprinted by the Clark County Health District, Donnelly said.

A trip to the doctor confirmed she had lead poisoning.

Concerned, Donnelly, a graduate student at UNLV's School of Public Health, teamed up with professor Shawn Gerstenberger, who also specializes in lead issues, to investigate how prevalent lead is in the Mexican candy sold in Las Vegas.

The answer so far: Very.

After screening 4,000 pieces of candy purchased within a two-mile radius of UNLV, predominantly at dollar stores, the researchers, together with graduate student Heather Fels, have found most of the "toxic treats" identified in California to be "hot" for lead here too.

Out of about 100 different brands, they've found 25 that have consistently tested positive for lead, either in the candy, the wrappers or the containers, Gerstenberger said.

The lead is found either in the candy itself -- chilis aren't properly washed and lead from the soil is milled with them -- or its packaging. Some candies are wrapped around a straw or in paper that is printed with lead ink, which is then transferred when the candy is eaten.

One candy has a spoon that is full of lead. The tamarind candies are often sold from a lead-glazed ceramic pot.

In April 2004 the Food and Drug Administration advised parents not to let their children eat chili-and tamarind-based candies from Mexico.

The FDA has banned some candies that have routinely tested positive but has found that many Mexican manufacturers make two batches -- a "clean" version for the United States and a cheaper version for Mexico.

Both versions are imported into the United States primarily through independent distributors or in the trunks of private vehicles.

The UNLV researchers hope to produce a report by spring detailing how often each candy tests positive for lead out of 50 to 100 samples.

Their work is urgently needed to help the Health District crack down on tainted candies and prevent lead poisoning in children, particularly in the Hispanic population, said epidemiologist Wilbert Townsend, who oversees the county's lead-surveillance program.

Clark County has pulled the candies officially banned by the FDA, but because of a lack of evidence the county has not sent out any formal advisories to retailers about other candies that may be problematic, officials said.

Glenn Savage, director of the Health District's environmental health division, said his department regularly visits retailers and mobile vendors to get the candy off the market, but UNLV researchers and Sun reporters were able to find it easily.

Actual lead poisoning cases in Clark County are rare. In 3,684 blood-lead tests reported to the Health District for a 12-month period ending in August, only 51 showed blood poisoning, 17 of them children. Of the children, 15 were Hispanic.

A quarter of those tests showed elevated levels of lead in the blood. Hispanics represent half of the more than 600 children who have shown elevated levels of lead in their blood.

The 17 children range in age from 1 year old to 14, with 11 under 3 years old, Townsend said. Seven of the children had levels above 20 micrograms per deciliter -- twice the standard for blood poisoning -- with one 8-year-old Hispanic boy registering at 34.

Townsend suspects candy may be a culprit in the increased cases, but the Health District does not have the money or equipment to investigate all of the elevated lead-in-blood reports.

UNLV's researchers have been able to use high-tech equipment to quickly scan the candies and will be buying equipment to help measure the level of lead in the candies.

The UNLV study will also compare candies whose wrappers are printed in English versus those in Spanish to see if there is a difference in lead content, Fels said.

UNLV is also working with the Health District to compile information on how much of this candy children are eating and how that affects their blood-lead levels based on height and weight. That kind of chart will let parents see the damage lead causes.

"Time is of the essence for lead content in children," Donnelly said. "The quicker you can eliminate it the better."

Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at [email protected].

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