Overview
Kuznetsova and colleagues measured copper, zinc, and lead in seven dry milk infant-formula products labeled for infants from 6 months to 1 year. The study is direct powdered-formula occurrence evidence, but the paper reports product-level results by named commercial formula. Under the brand firewall, this page preserves only the category-level range and exceedance signal.
The source does not measure mercury or methylmercury despite appearing in a methylmercury research-pull folder.
Key numbers
All concentrations are reported by the source in mg/kg for dry formula.
| Analyte | Source comparison value | Observed range across 7 formulas | Samples above comparison value | Maximum excess reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cu | 0.5 | 0.49-0.57 | 2/7 | 0.07 |
| Zn | 5 | 4.9-5.45 | 3/7 | 0.45 |
| lead (Pb) | 0.05 | 0.049-0.13 | 2/7 | 0.08 |
The paper’s abstract also cites maximum levels from Russian scientists for newborn milk as lead (Pb) 0.02 mg/kg, cadmium (Cd) 0.02 mg/kg, and arsenic (As) 0.05 mg/kg; cadmium and arsenic were not measured in the seven-sample formula panel.
Category-level findings from Tables 1-7:
| Finding | Value |
|---|---|
| Formula samples tested | 7 |
| Samples with no reported excess for any measured analyte | 4/7 |
| Samples with at least one reported excess | 3/7 |
| Samples with all three measured analytes at or below the source comparison values | 4/7 |
| Samples with lead (Pb) above 0.05 mg/kg | 2/7 |
| Samples with Cu above 0.5 mg/kg | 2/7 |
| Samples with Zn above 5 mg/kg | 3/7 |
Methods (brief)
The authors tested dry milk formula products using emission spectral analysis for rapid lead detection and atomic absorption spectroscopy for microelement determination. The method section states that 100-200 g portions were burned according to GOST 26929-86, with lead lines at lambda = 283.31 nm and lambda = 405.78 nm and comparison lines at lambda = 282.4 nm, 408.0 nm, and a doublet at 404.4 nm and 404.6 nm. The method-development work lowered detection limits relative to prior use of ISP-28 and ISP-30 spectrographs, and the authors state that the same approach can be applied to zinc and copper.
Microelements in milk were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy using a Saturn-2 spectrophotometer after spraying the mineralized sample solution in air-acetylene flame. The paper describes calibration by solutions with known concentrations. Porcelain dishes and utensils were used during mixture and sample preparation to avoid contact with lead-containing glass.
Implications
This source contributes small-panel occurrence evidence for Pb, Cu, and Zn in follow-on powdered milk infant formula. It is most useful as a geographically mixed, non-US formula contamination signal and as method context for rapid lead detection in formula ash.
The source does not distinguish soy-based from non-soy formula in the HMTc row system, so it should remain broad powdered-formula context until row fit is resolved. The measured lead values are total lead in dry product; no basis conversion to prepared formula is made here. The source does not measure cadmium, arsenic, total mercury, methylmercury, or chromium species.
Related evidence
Update history
No substantive edit history is available in this build. The full commit record is available in git.