Bureau of Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York City, New York.
Pediatrics. 2024 Oct 1;154(Suppl 2). doi: 10.1542/peds.2024-067808O.
We aimed to describe the characteristics of traditional eye cosmetics and cultural powders, including the types, lead concentrations, origin, and regional variation in product names, and assess the differences in blood lead levels (BLLs) between product users and non-users.
We analyzed 220 samples of traditional eye cosmetics and cultural powders collected in New York City between 2013 and 2022 during lead poisoning investigations and store surveys. We compared the BLLs of children who used these products with those of non-users.
Lead levels in traditional eye cosmetics surma and kohl were much higher than levels in kajal and other cultural powders. Although the terminologies surma, kohl, and kajal are often used interchangeably, findings suggest regional variations in the product names. The majority of the surma in this study were from Pakistan, kohl was from Morocco, and kajal was from India. The results also show that these products can contribute to elevated BLLs in children.
Our study reveals that traditional eye cosmetics and cultural powders are used among children as young as newborns, and exposure to these products can significantly add to their lead body burden. The study findings also reveal that lead concentrations in these products can vary by product type and product names can vary by region. Public health officials must be cognizant of these unique variations and use culturally appropriate terminologies for these types of products because such distinctions can be critical when conducting risk assessments, risk communication, and risk reduction activities.
我们旨在描述传统眼部化妆品和文化粉的特点，包括产品类型、铅浓度、来源以及产品名称的地域差异，并评估产品使用者和非使用者的血铅水平（BLL）差异。
我们分析了 2013 年至 2022 年期间在纽约市进行的铅中毒调查和商店调查中收集的 220 份传统眼部化妆品和文化粉样本。我们比较了使用这些产品的儿童与非使用者的 BLL。
传统眼部化妆品 surma 和 kohl 的铅含量远高于 kajal 和其他文化粉。尽管术语 surma、kohl 和 kajal 经常互换使用，但研究结果表明产品名称存在地域差异。本研究中的大部分 surma 来自巴基斯坦，kohl 来自摩洛哥，kajal 来自印度。研究结果还表明，这些产品会导致儿童血铅水平升高。
我们的研究表明，传统眼部化妆品和文化粉在新生儿等儿童中使用，而接触这些产品会显著增加他们的铅体负担。研究结果还表明，这些产品的铅浓度因产品类型而异，产品名称也因地域而异。公共卫生官员必须意识到这些独特的差异，并使用适合文化的术语来描述这些类型的产品，因为在进行风险评估、风险沟通和降低风险活动时，这些区别可能至关重要。
