The European Commission has finally set new limits on the presence of lead and cadmium in food. The two heavy metals are toxic to humans and carcinogenic. European alerts registered in the RASFF indicate, among other things, an increased risk of contamination on products arriving from several non-EU countries.
Lead and cadmium, naturally present in the environment and in the earth’s crust, are carried into the body through inhalation and ingestion. Their concentration in food should be traced to the presence of pollutants, in agricultural and industrial activities.
Lead, from wine to baby food
Reg. (EU) 2021/1317 – in transposing, after two years, the indications formulated by Codex Alimentarius on 12.7.19 (CAC42) – reduces and/or introduces new limits for lead, as of 30.8.21, on certain infant and baby foods, salt, wild mushrooms, wines, fortified wines, and offal.
Spices arealso considered,‘also to counter fraudulent practices, such as the addition of lead chromate to turmeric.’ (1)
The sources of lead exposure
Lead exposure of the general population occurs through
– motor vehicle exhaust (and inhalation of particulate matter, the micro-particles to which lead binds),
– lead-based paints and enamels used on various consumer items (furniture, toys, etc.), including MOCAs (food contact materials),
– drinking water, particularly in homes served by old lead pipes (running the water in the morning is therefore suggested). Water supplied by water service providers, on the other hand, undergoes heavy metal removal treatment, and generally lead does not exceed 5 micrograms/liter, half the established limit,
– grains (excluding rice), potatoes, and vegetables primarily, due to contamination of soils,
– tobacco smoke, due to the plant’s pronounced ability to absorb lead from the soil, through its roots, and from the air, through its leaves,
– game shot down by lead ammunition and poisoned by the dispersal of the same bullets in its natural habitat (2,3).
Lead, reports to the RASFF
Notifications to theRapid Alert System on Food and Feed (RASFF) for exceeding limits for lead contamination over the past 6 months mainly involve dietary supplements and onions from India.
Italy appears as the country of origin of a white wine and ‘lead’ wild boar sausages. Attention then requires materials intended for food contact (MOCA). Those coming from China are usually contaminated. In our reconnaissance the only alert concerns ‘Leonardo’ children’s cutlery, origin Germany, reported on Oct. 30.10.20 to RASFF for lead richness (1520 mcg/kg) and also distributed in Italy (see German manufacturer recall ).
Absorption in the body
Once absorbed, lead is carried by the blood and distributed to the brain, liver, kidneys and bones, where it persists for more than 30 years. In adults, chronic exposure-that is, at low doses for long periods-causes cardiovascular disease with increased blood pressure and kidney damage.
For children, the risks are more serious. At the stage of brain development (from fetal formation to the first 6 years of life), chronic lead exposure causes progressive hearing loss, chronic fatigue and sluggishness, learning deficits and reduced IQ (intellectual quotient), possible antisocial behavior, and ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) syndrome.
Irreversible effects
Neurotoxicity causes irreversible effects on children’s brains, even at low levels of exposure. In fact, the share of lead absorbed by children – relative to the amounts contributed in food – is three times as high as in adults (50% vs. about 15-20%).
An additional risk to the fetus descends from a physiological process that puts lead accumulated by the pregnant woman in her bones before pregnancy back into the bloodstream.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC) classifies inorganic lead in Group 2A, probable carcinogen.
The aggravation of poverty
In Italy and other high-income countries, the elimination of leaded gasoline (in 2002), the introduction of limits and bans on heavy metal contamination, and other measures have reduced the environmental dispersion of this metal. And the relative exposure of the population. In middle- and low-income countries, however, the phenomenon is still uncontrolled.
In Africa and Asia, as well as Central and South America and Eastern Europe, live most of the 800 million children poisoned by lead, with blood levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), UNICEF reports. (4) A level that results in an IQ reduction of 3 to 5 points. With damage to the health of intoxicated children and negative repercussions in the societies in which they live in terms of lower productivity, delinquency and youth violence.
Protecting children
However, the phenomenon also affects industrialized countries. In Italy, Unicef reports, an average of 160,862 children and youth (0-19 years) have average blood lead levels above 5 µg/dL and 20,963 levels above 10 µg/dL.
To protect children from intoxication, the first step is to know (and modify) the sources of lead exposure in the most frequented environments (home and school), to teach the importance of washing hands as soon as you return home, to ascertain that the diet provides iron, calcium and vitamin C in amounts that are useful in decreasing lead absorption in case of exposure.
Cadmium, new limits
Cadmium is the other heavy metal for which the European Commission has set reduced limits on food contamination, which in this case is the primary source of human exposure.
Reg. (EU) 2021/1323 reduces the maximum permissible cadmium contamination level for a wide variety of foods, effective 31.8.21. Fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, cereals, chocolate, meats and offal, fish, shellfish, early childhood foods, supplements, salt. (5)
The sources of cadmium exposure
An element naturally present in the environment, cadmium has become a dangerous contaminant due to human activities. It pollutes air, water and soil from the spreading of synthetic phosphate fertilizers, as well as from mining, refining and processing of nonferrous metals, battery and paint production, use of fossil fuels (coal and oil), incineration and waste disposal.
Food accounts for 90 percent of the source of exposure for humans. Some foods are at greater risk of contamination. According to EFSA, in Europe with an omnivorous diet, one gets more or less the acceptable weekly intake (2.5 µg/kg pc). However, one risks doubling it by following a vegetarian and vegan diet, as well as consuming large amounts of shellfish and crustaceans. Drinking water may contain up to 5 µg/l cadmium. (6)
Another source of contamination is kitchen utensils (MOCA, food contact materials) when subjected to cadmium plating (a coating).
The most direct contact, however, is tobacco smoke, whose plant absorbs high amounts of this heavy metal, as already seen for lead. Each cigarette contains 1-2 µg of cadmium, of which 10% is inhaled and 5% absorbed.
Cadmium, reports to the RASFF.
The reports to theRapid Alert System on Food and Feed (RASFF) in the past 6 months for excessive cadmium presence concern seafood products in 70% of cases, as shown in the table below.
In only one case does the notification forwarded by Italy refer to a product distributed to consumers and recalled. This is frozen Indo-Pacific squid from India marketed in 400g trays under the Albatros brand of Marr spa (Cremonini Group). The recall was reported on 7/13/21 to the Ministry of Health (the day after the RASFF), due to contamination at more than twice the limits (2.39 vs. 1 mg/kg).
In view of the fish varieties reported for excessive cadmium contamination, it is useful to remember the value of favoring the consumption of cheap and healthy blue fish.
The health effects
Inhalation (tobacco smoke or dust) is the worst route of contact with cadmium, resulting in 5-50% uptake in the lungs, which then goes into the circulation.
In contrast, metal absorption is 1-10% in ingestion and less than 1 in dermal exposure. Iron and zinc deficiency in the blood promotes the absorption of cadmium in the gastrointestinal tract.
When absorbed, cadmium is distributed throughout the organs, with higher concentrations in liver, kidneys and bones (where it remains for 10-30 years). It is slowly eliminated through urine and feces.
Chronic exposure toxicity
Exposure to small doses of cadmium over many years can cause kidney disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and lung cancer (particularly with inhalation of tobacco smoke and dust). IARC classifies it in Group 1, definitely carcinogenic to humans.
Children appear to be subject to the same risks as adults, with more pronounced bone weakness. However, studies on cadmium toxicity in early life are lacking.
Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1317 of August 9, 2021. Amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 regarding maximum levels of lead in certain foodstuffs. Eur-lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32021R1317&from=EN#d1e32-3-1
(2) ISSalute. Lead https://www.issalute.it/index.php/la-salute-dalla-a-alla-z-menu/p/piombo#link-approfondimento
3) Lead in hunting ammunition: an underestimated danger. Holly ALSIA, https://www.alsia.it/opencms/opencms/agrifoglio/agrifoglio_online/dettaglio/articolo/Il-piombo-nelle-munizioni-da-caccia-un-pericolo-sottovalutato-PRIMA-PARTE/?numagri=94&Mese=Aprile
4) UNICEF. The Toxic Truth, 2020 https://www.datocms-assets.com/30196/1607941044-the-toxic-truth1.pdf
(5) Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1323 of August 10, 2021. Amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 regarding maximum levels of cadmium in certain food products. Eur-lex https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32021R1323&from=EN
6) ISShealth. Cadmium. https://www.%E2%
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".