Lin, Wu, Yan, Li, and Liu report two children in Guangzhou whose blood lead rose after a red medicated powder was used on the skin. The powder used in the home was a mixture of talcum and Hongdan. Hongdan is the pharmacopeial name for red lead (Pb3O4), not a brand. The file name on the working copy does not match this paper. The article is Clinica Chimica Acta 413 (2012) 1156-1159, doi 10.1016/j.cca.2012.03.010.
Key numbers
Blood lead is in µg/l in Table 1 (printed page 1157).
| Person | Birthday | Nov 2008 | Mar 2009 | May 2009 | May 2010 | May 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boy | May 2005 | 330 | 303 | 118 | 190 | 116 |
| Girl | Jul 2008 | 248 | 385 | 88 | 131 | 91 |
| Father | Apr 1957 | 45 | ||||
| Mother | Oct 1979 | 61 |
Footnote a marks March 2009 as the first home visit. Footnote b marks May 2009 as considerably after chelation, with rebound expected. The hospital values before chelation were 303 µg/l in the boy and 385 µg/l in the girl. After CaNa2EDTA at 1000 mg/m2/day the levels were 118 µg/l and 88 µg/l. The abstract quotes those hospital values. It does not quote the earlier November pair of 330 µg/l and 248 µg/l. Both pairs are in Table 1.
The powder from the home was above 100,000 mg/kg by in situ X-ray fluorescence and 214,000 mg/kg by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The authors say that is about 5000 times a limit they attribute to the National Cosmetic Hygienic Standard of China, which they describe as permitting lead below 40 mg/kg of total weight. That standard is not in this file. A balcony guardrail paint read 8700 mg/kg and a sofa 1741 mg/kg by X-ray fluorescence. The parents said the child had little contact with those surfaces.
In March 2009 the investigators visited 48 drugstores in 14 towns and found 41 selling a similar powder. They purchased 16 Hongdan samples, 13 medicated baby powders, and 6 talcum samples and tested them by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Figure 3 averages are 817,000 mg/kg for Hongdan, 207,000 mg/kg for the medicated powders, and 5 mg/kg for talcum. Six of the 16 Hongdan samples came from pharmacies and 10 from local chemical stores. The abstract’s 817,000 mg/kg average for 16 Hongdan samples matches the figure.
Methods (brief)
Blood lead was followed from November 2008 to May 2011. The case powder was measured by portable X-ray fluorescence and by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (Hitachi Zeeman-5000). The purchased powders were measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry at the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Evidence fitness
The table supports a statement about this family’s blood lead and about the powders they tested. It does not support a typical or upper-tail concentration for retail talcum. Other case series cited in the discussion (including counts and blood lead values from other authors) are not measurements from this paper and are not carried into the evidence register.
Limitations
Two children and 35 purchased powders are not a market. The figure averages are not accompanied by ranges or individual results in the text. The 40 mg/kg cosmetic figure is cited, and the instrument was not read here. The working-copy file name carries a different DOI than the article.
Related evidence
- Baby Talcum Powder
- Lead
- Heavy metals in baby lotions, oils, and powders
- Dietary supplements and traditional herbal preparations are a distinct, under-surveilled heavy-metal exposure pathway whose contamination magnitudes reach thousands of times conventional food limits under materially weaker enforcement
Update history
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