Discard Your Cookware if It's Any of These Lead-leeching Brands, FDA Says
Your cookware has one job: to allow you to safely cook food. However, several imported brands may actually be putting you at risk.
In August, the FDA sent out a warning to customers and stores regarding several imported cookware brands that had been shown to leech significant levels of lead into food. More recently, the organization updated its list, adding nine more brands.
The products, which are made from aluminum, brass, and aluminum alloys known as Hindalium/Hindolium or Indalium/Indolium, were tested by the FDA and its partners. When they recreated regular food cooking conditions, tests found that they have the potential to leech unsafe levels of lead.
What is lead, and why is it in cookware?
Lead is a toxic heavy metal found in the Earth's crust. It's known for its corrosion resistance, but it is dangerous to humans if consumed, especially children, because of their smaller body size and metabolism, and pregnant women risk fetal harm. However, lead can affect an,yone and there is no known safe level of exposure. It was once used in gasoline, pipes, and paint before being phased out, but it's still used in batteries, ammunition, and weights.
It's sometimes found in cookware, particularly imported brands, not because it's added intentionally, but because some companies, which lack quality control or manufacturing standards, use contaminated scrap metal to make pots and pans. These companies melt down recycled metals that contain lead from electronics, radiators, or other sources to make new cookware.
Effects of lead exposure
Lead exposure harms multiple functions in the body, including the nervous system. In children, it can cause brain damage, learning, and behavioral issues like ADHD and reduced IQ, as well as vision and hearing problems, slowed growth and development, and anemia.
In adult men, it can reduce libido and sperm count, and it can cause stillbirth or miscarriages in pregnant women. For all adults, it can cause headaches, fatigue, irritability, memory and concentration issues, muscle weakness, numbness, and nerve damage. Severe lead poisoning can cause vomiting, convulsions, coma, paralysis, and death.
Lead is stored in the bones, and even small exposure over time can lead to problems later in life. The body releases more of this stored lead in certain phases of life, including during pregnancy, lactation, menopause, stress, chronic disease, hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, broken bones, and old age. If you have a calcium deficiency, more lead is released, and the effects are worse.
What's to be done about contaminated cookware?
Check the FDA's list to ensure you don't have any of the contaminated products in your home. If you do, throw it away immediately. Do not sell, donate it, or refurbish it. The FDA is continuing to surveil products and is actively working to remove cookware that may leech lead into food from the market. Make sure to check the list regularly for updates. To ensure your cookware doesn't contain lead, buy products from reputable brands that were made in the US or other countries where manufacturing guidelines are strict.
KEEP ON READING
