CDC Warns Against High Levels of Lead in Many Ethnic Remedies

A federal health agency issued a warning Thursday that many ethnic health remedies contain as much as 90% lead and that the compounds appear to be poisoning children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically mentioned the Mexican remedies greta, which was found to contain as much as 90% lead, and Azercon, found to contain from 76% to 86% lead; Surma, an Indian powder found to be about 25% lead; an unnamed Tibetan remedy containing from 1% to 3% lead, and paylooah, a Southeast Asian powder containing an unknown amount of lead.

The CDC said that a study was begun in California in December, 1991, after a child of Mexican heritage was found to have a blood lead level more than eight times higher than the level that the agency considers potentially dangerous.

Upon questioning, the child’s mother said that she routinely fed the 2-year-old boy a traditional remedy called greta for digestive problems. When analyzed, the yellow-orange powder was found to contain as much as 90% lead.

Over the course of the next year, 40 children who had consumed various ethnic remedies in California were found to have high lead levels, the CDC said.

Although the first child diagnosed had a lead level high enough to be classified as a medical emergency, about half of the other children had few symptoms.

Lead is considered to cause learning disabilities in children, as well as diarrhea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, vomiting, headaches, irritability and muscle soreness.