Examining Lead Exposures in California through State-Issued Health Alerts for Food Contamination and an Exposure-Based Candy Testing Program

Conclusions Based on these observations, lead-contaminated candies represent an important contribution to lead exposures in California. The fact that a large number of unique products were identified among the contaminated candies presents an ongoing challenge for exposure-based testing programs, as does the large number of candies tested for which no lead was detected. After legislation was passed requiring more widespread testing of candies for lead, many imported candies were identified as containing lead, suggesting that imported candy might be considered a public health risk for lead poisoning in California. However, this approach does not convey the magnitude of that risk, because the sampling methods are not currently population-based. More work is needed to determine the best approaches to sampling in order to determine the magnitude of the problem. We do not know whether other food sources (besides candy) that are not tested through the candy testing program, or candies not included in the sampling, also contribute to lead exposures in California. Furthermore, these data do not represent prevalence estimates of lead risks at the county and ZIP code level. Nevertheless, the candy testing program does provide a means of proactively detecting sources of lead, and the health alerts may help prevent lead poisoning cases in vulnerable populations, particularly children. We know that consumption of contaminated foods, such as lead-contaminated candies, can immediately resul...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Brief Communication Source Type: research