Canada: Toxic lead exposure via an unusual source: New BC reporting regulations may prevent similar cases

[Emily]

https://www.bcmj.org/bccdc/toxic-le...porting-regulations-may-prevent-similar-cases

[h=1]Toxic lead exposure via an unusual source: New BC reporting regulations may prevent similar cases[/h]

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 61 , No. 1 , January February 2019 , Pages 41 BCCDC By: David McVea, MD James Lu, MD Morris Pudek, PhD Benjamin Sehmer, MD Tom Kosatsky, MD


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The patient had been taking an ayruvedic herbal remedy purchased in India to treat his type 2 diabetes. A laboratory analysis determined that each tablet contained approximately 12.5 mg of lead. The patient had been taking two tablets daily for many years, yielding a sustained daily exposure of 25 mg.
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As part of new regulations under the BC Public Health Act, as of 1 January 2019, laboratories testing BC patients and paid for by public insurance are obliged to report all analyses of lead and mercury in blood and urine to the BC Provincial Health Officer, who has delegated the receipt, investigation, and surveillance of results to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) acting in concert with regional health authorities. BCCDC will assess trends in testing and in metal biomarker levels by geography and demography, and for those 100 or so results per year above an investigation/action threshold, will contact the ordering clinician and through the clinician the patient, to assess the likely source of exposure. ...

http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2018/68602a-eng.php

[h=1]Foreign Product Alert: Quizz Capsules by Trio Healthcare[/h] Report a Concern
Starting date: December 14, 2018 Type of communication: Advisory Subcategory: Drugs Source of recall: Health Canada Identification number: RA-68602
This foreign health product has been found to contain undeclared lead and mercury.
The product is not authorized for sale in Canada and has not been found in the Canadian marketplace, but it is possible that it may have been brought into the country by travellers or purchased over the Internet. Health Canada is warning consumers not to use this unauthorized product after it was associated with a Canadian case of lead poisoning. The product is promoted for the treatment of diabetes.

These herbs might have been heavy metal accumulators grown in an area contaminated with mine tailings or industrial pollution.

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijce/2011/939161/