Shah Manthan P, Shendell Derek G, Strickland Pamela Ohman, Bogden John D, Kemp Francis W, Halperin William
Manthan P. Shah and Derek G. Shendell are with the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ. Pamela Ohman Strickland is with the Department of Biostatistics, Rutgers School of Public Health. John D. Bogden and Francis W. Kemp are with the Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark. William Halperin is with Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Newark.
Am J Public Health. 2017 Oct;107(10):1630-1632. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303931. Epub 2017 Aug 17.
To assess the extent of lead content of sindoor, a powder used by Hindus for religious and cultural purposes, which has been linked to childhood lead poisoning when inadvertently ingested.
We purchased 95 samples of sindoor from 66 South Asian stores in New Jersey and 23 samples from India and analyzed samples with atomic absorption spectrophotometry methods for lead.
Analysis determined that 79 (83.2%) sindoor samples purchased in the United States and 18 (78.3%) samples purchased in India contained 1.0 or more micrograms of lead per gram of powder. For US samples, geometric mean concentration was 5.4 micrograms per gram compared with 28.1 micrograms per gram for India samples. The maximum lead content detected in both US and India samples was more than 300 000 micrograms per gram. Of the examined US sindoor samples, 19% contained more than 20 micrograms per gram of lead (US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] limit); 43% of the India samples exceeded this limit.
Results suggested continued need for lead monitoring in sindoor in the United States and in sindoor carried into the United States by travelers from India, despite FDA warnings.
评估印度教用于宗教和文化目的的粉末状朱砂中铅含量的程度，当无意中摄入时，朱砂与儿童铅中毒有关。
我们从新泽西州的66家南亚商店购买了95份朱砂样本，并从印度购买了23份样本，采用原子吸收分光光度法对样本进行铅分析。
分析确定，在美国购买的79份（83.2%）朱砂样本和在印度购买的18份（78.3%）样本中，每克粉末含铅量为1.0微克或更多。对于美国样本，几何平均浓度为每克5.4微克，而印度样本为每克28.1微克。在美国和印度样本中检测到的最高铅含量均超过每克300000微克。在检测的美国朱砂样本中，19%的样本含铅量超过每克20微克（美国食品药品监督管理局[FDA]的限值）；43%的印度样本超过了这一限值。
结果表明，尽管有FDA的警告，但在美国仍需继续监测朱砂以及来自印度的旅行者带入美国的朱砂中的铅含量。
