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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

A human in vivo model for the determination of lead bioavailability using stable isotope dilution.

Beverages stored in lead-crystal glass accumulate extraordinary concentrations of lead. We obtained a lead-crystal decanter manufactured with lead from Australia, where the ratio of 206Pb/207Pb is distinctly different from that in the United States. We sought to determine the bioavailability of crystal-derived lead, using the technique of stable isotope dilution in blood. We conducted a single-dose, nonrandomized cross-over study in which participants were admitted to the Clinical Research Center twice, 1 week apart. During the first admission, subjects ingested sherry obtained from the original bottle. During the second admission, they ingested sherry that had been stored in the crystal decanter and that had achieved a lead concentration of 14.2 mu mol/l. After ingesting decanter-stored sherry, mean blood lead rose significantly (p = 0.0003) from 0.10 to 0.18 mu mol/l, while mean 206Pb/207Pb fell from 1.202 to 1.137 (p = 0.0001). On average, 70% of the ingested dose of lead was absorbed. We conclude that lead derived from crystal glass is highly bioavailable; repeated ingestions could cause elevated blood lead concentration. The technique of stable isotope dilution lends itself to the study of the bioavailability of lead in other matrices, including soil.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Lead poisoning from an unexpected source in a 4-month-old infant.

Childhood lead poisoning is characteristically a disease that occurs between the second and third years of life, generally resulting from the child's ingestion of lead-based paint or dust. However, lead poisoning may also appear in the first year of life. The case of a 4-month-old infant is reported in which the preparation of infant formula in a lead-soldered samovar (urn) resulted in venous blood lead levels as high as 46 microg/dl. The samovar had been brought into the United States by the parents while on a visit to Iran. The infant was placed on chelation therapy with parenteral CaNa2EDTA followed by oral meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) and d-penicillamine. This resulted in a rapid and substantial reduction in the blood lead level. Lead poisoning in infancy may have unusual etiologies such as in utero transmission of lead by lead-poisoned women. Because sources of lead poisoning in infancy may be unusual, a detailed environmental investigation may be necessary to identify the exact source. Children exposed to lead in the first 2 years of life have a special vulnerability to the neurotoxicity of lead, with the risk of enduring developmental handicaps. Continued public health initiatives to remove lead from the environment, in conjunction with routine lead screening of young children, will be key in meeting the goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to eliminate childhood lead poisoning by the year 2011.

Cooking and Eating Utensils↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Aluminum ingestion--is it related to dementia?

Elevated levels of aluminum in brain tissue have been found in demented patients with Alzheimer's disease, with ALS-PD complex of Guam and with dialysis encephalopathy. A possible etiological relationship between enhanced aluminum exposure and impaired mental function was suggested both for ALS-PD of Guam (a region where high contents of aluminum in water are found) and for dialysis encephalopathy which appears in dialyzed patients exposed to high doses of aluminum in medications and in dialysate fluid. The role of aluminum in Alzheimer's disease is not known as is the question of life-long aluminum accumulation in healthy human beings. In this review we have limited ourselves to the issue of oral aluminum ingestion and the possible neurotoxic consequences of such exposure. The following topics are summarized: 1. Physiological mechanisms involved in ingestion and intestinal absorption of aluminum and the influences of pH and available organic complexing agents on these processes. 2. Effects of an aluminum-enriched diet on behavior and on brain metabolism. 3. Dietary sources of aluminum and elevated loads of this substance due to prolonged intake of aluminum-containing medications. The main conclusion of this summary is that aluminum is absorbed and may accumulate in different organs in both adults and infants. Two groups seem to be at particular risk for aluminum related toxicity: people with chronic renal failure treated with aluminum-containing medications and pre-term infants fed on aluminum containing formulate. It seems probable that at least upon short term exposure the healthy human body can defend itself adequately from aluminum's toxic effects. However, not enough information is available on possible effects of life-long exposure to aluminum in the environment, diet and medications, which over decades may lead to accumulation of this substance with expressions of toxicity. Therefore, the question of aluminum's relevance to dementive diseases cannot yet be adequately answered.

Aluminum↗
PubMed2005

Kitchen scalds and thermal burns in children five years and younger.

OBJECTIVE: The current study was undertaken to describe patterns of kitchen burns and scalds to young children to understand better why such injuries continue to occur despite intervention efforts. METHODS: Emergency department-treated thermal burns and scalds associated with nonelectric cookware were examined from a national sample, collected by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's injury surveillance system over a 6-year period, 1997-2002. Data extracted from the cases included age, gender, body part, disposition, case weight, causal substance, and injury pattern. Data were analyzed using Epi Info 2002, with significance assessed by chi(2) test. RESULTS: Scalds were approximately twice as common as were thermal burns. Hot water was the chief causal agent for scalds. The 2 most common scald injury patterns were (1) the child reached up and pulled a pot of hot water off the stove or other elevated surface and (2) the child grabbed, overturned, or spilled a container of hot water onto him- or herself. One-year-olds were at highest risk for scalds and thermal burns. Scalds resulted in significantly more hospitalizations than did thermal burns. In nearly all injury patterns, more boys than girls were injured, but the ratio varied depending on the injury pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Although the kitchen is recognized as a room that is hazardous for young children, parents seem not to recognize or anticipate the risk for burns and scalds. The ability of children, especially toddlers, to reach containers of hot liquids on elevated surfaces is reflected in the injury data and is explained by anthropometry data, yet there is an apparent failure on the part of parents to recognize children's ability to gain access to the hazard and a failure to recognize the potential severity of resulting injury. These failures might explain why behavioral interventions (eg, place pots on back burners of stove) have been nonmotivating and ineffective. A multifaceted spectrum of prevention that has individual, community, and organizational components may prove to be more useful.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed2005

Clostridium perfringens foodborne outbreak due to braised chop suey supplied by chafing dish.

On February 13, 2002, a public health center in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, was notified that many individuals living at the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force base had symptoms resembling those of food poisoning. Self-administered questionnaires requesting information regarding meal consumption and symptoms were distributed to all 281 members at the base. A case of the illness was defined as a member who had had watery or mucousy stool, or loose stool with abdominal cramps, more than twice a day after consuming dinner on February 12. Control of the illness was defined as a member with no symptoms. The dinner on February 12 was significantly associated with the illness (Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio: 3.59, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-12.20). A case-control study showed that, among the food supplied at dinner on February 12, the braised chop suey was significantly associated with the illness (odds ratio: 12.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.90-521.00). The braised chop suey had been stored in a chafing dish. An environmental investigation indicated that Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) in the chafing dish proliferated under an inappropriate heat-retention temperature, and the contaminated braised chop suey could have caused the food poisoning. This study demonstrated that the recommended heat-retention temperature (over 65 degrees C) should be confirmed thoroughly.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Penetrating head injury caused by chopstick--case report.

A 4-year-old boy suffered a transorbital penetrating head injury caused by falling on a wooden chopstick while walking. The chopstick was removed completely, but full diagnosis was delayed for 3 years because the entry wound had not appeared to be serious. The patient later experienced rhinorrhea of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and recurrent bacterial meningitis. Surgical repair of the CSF fistula at the anterior skull base was performed when the patient was 7 years old. Previous penetrating head injury should be considered in patients with recurrent CSF fistula and meningitis.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea↗
PubMed2006

Mode of grasp, materials, and grooved chopstick tip on gripping performance and evaluation.

This study evaluated the effects of the mode of grasping, chopstick materials, and the groove of the chopstick-tip on gripping performance of 32 participants, among whom 16 were accustomed to using chopsticks with a pliers-grasping mode and the other 16 with a scissors-grasping mode. Based on a random sequence, 8 kinds of chopsticks with different combinations (materials: bamboo, wood, plastic, and stainless steel, with and without grooves in the chopstick-tip) were used to carry out the action of gripping two different objects (peanuts and longan). The time to finish gripping 50 pieces of peanut and longan, the number which fell on the table when gripping, the subjective effort and the subjective preference were measures of efficiency of pinching for 8 kinds of chopsticks. Analysis showed that chopstick materials significantly affect time of gripping. The large object (such as longan) could be gripped more easily with the pliers-grasping mode or gripped with the grooved chopstick-tip. However, for small objects (such as peanuts), there was no significant difference in performance whether the chopstick-tip was grooved or not. A combination of bamboo chopsticks with grooved tips used with a pliers-grasping seem preferrable for more favorable gripping performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Are nonproper chopstick holders clumsier than proper chopstick holders in their manual movements?

To examine the working hypothesis that a lack of childhood training in the fine-detailed finger movements illustrated by learning to use chopsticks properly as a child has later rendered such individuals clumsier in the execution of other more adult-like motor movements, four experiments were conducted. Groups of proper and nonproper users (both males and females) performed a task of picking up rice grains (Exp. 1), a pin-down task (Exp. 2), a task of unfastening nuts from bolts (Exp. 3), and a knot-tying task (Exp. 4). Only on the rice-grain transfer task and the knot-tying task, proper chopstick users showed better performance than nonproper users. On the pin-down task and the nuts-and-bolts task, no difference was found between groups. These results suggest that there is no clear evidence to support the hypothesis that a lack of early training for proper chopstick use makes such individuals more clumsy as adults in at least some motor movements.

Adult↗