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Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain
re: heavy metals
re: Examples of Lead Content of Food, from EU
It’s striking to me that no medical doctor in my life ever suggested a baseline blood lead test, even after I noted childhood exposure and after striking neurological damage after Metronidazole, and that I had to INSIST to get one finally, in 2022. I question the competence of mainstream medical doctors in working vs a checklist which doesn’t include a potentially major contributor to nerve damage.
I’m having to learn about sources of heavy metals in food (and tea and supplements) because I want to solve my high blood lead situation. Medical doctors so far have not yielded anything useful, nor the state bureaucracy.
The EU tends to be ahead of the USA in food safety and similar. This opinion from 2013 has a few interesting points. I’ve left out the child-centered aspects but not well that mothers and children should pay even closer attention.
The key point I see is “no evidence for a threshold for critical lead-induced effects”. In other words, lead poisons us at any level and therefore my blood lead level being far higher than typical is surely exerting adverse effects. Were I 80 years old, maybe I’d just shrug. But I am a couple of decades away from that age, and healthspan concerns me much more than lifespan.
Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM)
2013-03-22
Lead occurs primarily in the inorganic form in the environment. Human exposure is mainly via food and water, with some via air, dust and soil. In average adult consumers, lead dietary exposure ranges from 0.36 to 1.24, up to 2.43 μg/kg body weight (b.w.) per day in high consumers in Europe... Cereal products contribute most to dietary lead exposure..
...Half-lives of lead in blood and bone are approximately 30 days and 10-30 years, respectively, and excretion is primarily in urine and faeces...
The CONTAM Panel concluded that the current PTWI of 25 μg/kg b.w. is no longer appropriate as there is no evidence for a threshold for critical lead-induced effects..
Food is the major source of exposure to lead... dietary exposure for average adult consumers in 19 European countries ranged from 0.36 to 1.24 μg/kg body weight (b.w.) ... and from 0.73 to 2.43 μg/kg b.w. per day for high consumers, respectively. Overall, cereals, vegetables and tap water were the most important contributors to lead exposure in the general European population. More specifically, the following food groups were identified as the major contributors to lead exposure: cereal products, followed by potatoes, cereal grains (except rice), cereal-based mixed dishes and leafy vegetables and tap water. Considerable variation between and within countries in the contribution of different food categories/groups exists.
...Lead in blood is considered to be the best indicator of the concentration of lead in soft tissues, reflecting recent and, to some extent, past exposure, whereas bone lead in vivo reflects the long-term uptake and body burden...
...in adults it was concluded that direct exposure via soil and dust is negligible...
The CONTAM Panel concluded that the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 25 μg/kg b.w. set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and endorsed by the Scientific Committee of Food is no longer appropriate and that as there was no evidence for a threshold for a number of critical endpoints including developmental neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in adults, it would not be appropriate to derive a PTWI. The CONTAM Panel does consider it appropriate to calculate margins of exposure to support the risk characterisation.
[WIND: at 80kg, my “tolerable” weekly intake would be 80*25 = 2000 mcg]...Gastrointestinal absorption of ingested lead is influenced by physiological factors (e.g., age, fasting, nutritional calcium and iron status, pregnancy) and physicochemical characteristics of particles (size, solubility and lead species). Details of the mechanism of absorption remain to be determined.
...Dermal absorption of lead compounds is generally considered to be much less than absorption by inhalation or oral routes of exposure. Dermal absorption has been estimated to be 0.06 % during normal use of lead-containing preparations...
...In human adults, 90 % of the total body burden of lead is found in the bones...
...At steady-state, lead in blood is considered to be the most suitable indicator of the concentration of lead in soft tissues, and hence recent exposure. Lead in blood does not necessarily correlate with the total body burden of lead (Lauwerys and Hoet, 2001)
...
WIND: I eat no grains of any kind, so that rules out cereals. We use a 2-stage water filter on our water which is some of the best in the country and shows virtually no lead in the annual report, and AFAIK we have no lead in pipes issue.
If I took on body stores of lead as a child (collecting/melting lead bullets in home fireplace) and/or mercury (in a jar including spillage in my bedroom), that should have been reduced by 3X to 8X by now for the lead. So that source seems unlikely, plus I had no issues as a child.
I will be getting blood lead tests regularly to see if there is any change. That’s the only data points I have available to me since I cannot assess my diet in any practical/specific way.
Given a blood half life of 30 days, a failure to see levels come down strongly suggests dietary inputs, e.g., black tea or something else.
