Thursday, March 31, 2011

Lead in Chocolate???

This week in bio inorganic, we were assigned to look through a series of topics and report on one we found interesting. I chose to talk about chocolate for no other reason than it is the best sweet treat in the world. When I began reading, I was quite surprised to find that the topic was about lead contamination in chocolate. This is apparently becoming a problem, being most prevalent in Mexican chocolate. The reason this is so, is because chili and tamarind are often used in Mexican chocolates, and these two particular "flavor additives" are grown in lead rich soil. The chili peppers are then dried, and this further concentrates the lead that was absorbed during the growing process. All of the articles that I read stressed that the lead poisoning in children is most concerning. This is because it takes a lot less lead to affect children than it does adults, and also because most of the poisoned chocolate is marketed toward children, such as in halloween candy. Lead poisoning mainly affects the nervous system, and the side affects range anywhere from depression, to forgetfulness, to hypertension. From what I have gathered, this is an ever-growing problem, and something needs to be done to help reverse it. Here are some pics of "lead lines" in the x-rays of children. The one on the left is of a three year old and the other is of a five year old.




-The High School Chemist

Sources
-http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/metals/cases/sheehan1.html
-http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1166899/lead_contamination_in_chocolate.html?cat=5
-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1459956/
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 3, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    Ok, so your blog totally scared me because I love chocolate and I eat it almost everyday. I too am surprised that there can be lead in chocolate. I thought the blog provided me with new information that makes me wary of what I eat. However, I would have liked to have seen some numerical levels of lead that were found in chocolate and the levels that are harmful if ingested. That would have reinforced the qualitative description. Otherwise, great job.

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  2. MeganApril 3, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Well who would have guessed that lead was found in chocolate since so many people eat it and to think i ate chocolate from mexico. I was really surprised to see that lead would be found in chocolate. I found your blog to provide awareness for me on what I eat; however, maybe you could have provided more information to see if any chocolate in the U.S. contain lead or if it is just in mexico since they use chili and tamarind.

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  3. Dr. MApril 7, 2011 at 7:50 PM

    Let me jump in here...the concentrations you cite come down to about 18 to 22 micrograms of Pb per bar in the Dagoba variety (see Hershey's link: http://www.hersheys.com/nutrition-professionals/chocolate/composition/caffeine-theobromine.aspx),so is this TOO much?

    What are acute and chronic toxicity levels and what form is the Pb in (ie. is it bioavailable)?

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