Each member of a family of five in NYC was found to have lead poisoning from Mexican pottery –

According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was found that a family of five in New York City suffers from lead poisoning, which can be caused by their meals.

The case was opened after dangerously high levels of lead were found in the blood of a three-year-old boy, which prompted further investigation, which revealed that all five members were suffering from high blood lead levels.

While the family did not fully cooperate in a CDC investigation into the matter, the agency believes ceramic plates purchased in Mexico were the cause.

The agency warns that many products purchased abroad may not meet US standards for lead protection, making people vulnerable to lead poisoning.

Routine screening in 2017 revealed that the three-year-old had a blood lead level of seven micrograms per deciliter (ug/dl), which was a tolerable CDC level above five µg/dl but not the required 10 µg/dl. run. search for a home.

A year later, in 2018, after the boy’s family received information on how to avoid lead exposure at home, the three-year-old was retested and found to have a blood lead level of five µg/dl.

On the recommendation of a general practitioner, another scan was performed in 2020. This time, the family’s two adult children were also given blood tests to look for lead.

They found that the three-year-old’s blood lead level was still 5 µg/dl, but the two adult siblings were 17 and 53 µg/dl, well above acceptable limits.

This resulted in screening of the parents, and the mother and father had 17 and 53 µg/dl, respectively, well beyond acceptable levels.

Follow-up of the risk assessment by CDC researchers found that the family used ceramic plates purchased in Mexico for cooking, storing, and making coffee.

While the family refused to let inspectors examine their home, the CDC team was able to scan the signals for lead and detect a dangerously high level of 15.7 milligrams per centimeter.

“Traditional ceramics around the world have been found to contain lead thousands of times above the legal limits in the United States,” the researchers wrote.

“Lead used for aesthetic and other purposes in glaze or ceramic paints may pass into food or beverages prepared, served or stored in these products, putting users at risk of lead exposure.”

Ceramic dishes can often contain dangerous amounts of lead.

The agency states that ceramic dishes purchased in Ecuador, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey and Uzbekistan

Although lead content is tightly regulated in the United States, some dishes sold in the country are likely to still use dangerous amounts of lead.

The family also reported using foreign spices in cooking, although they declined to provide an example to CDC researchers. The family’s spouse also works in construction, another potential risk factor for lead exposure.

After the plates were replaced, the family was screened every few months for lead exposure.

Two months after the replacement, the family’s blood lead level had decreased from two to 21 µg/dl. After a little over a year, it dropped from one to six µg/dl, to almost perfectly safe levels, demonstrating that the potential damage was not irreversible.

Lead poisoning can gradually destroy a person’s nervous system, leading to cognitive and memory problems, and can even lead to premature death if not managed.