Scrap Metal Pots an Unrecognized Source of Lead Poisoning

Scrap Metal Pots an Unrecognized Source of Lead Poisoning
A file photo of aluminum pots made from scrap metal, in a market in Cameroon, Africa. Courtesy of Occupational Knowledge International
Tara MacIsaac
Updated:

Aluminum cookware made from scrap metal is widely used throughout the developing world. While the production of this cookware is an important source of income for local artisans—and in some cases has been supported by international donors as a way to promote recycling and entrepreneurship in the developing world—a recent study found that the lead released into food from cooking with these pots could be contributing to persistently high blood lead levels in Africa and Asia.

Researchers at Ashland University in Ohio and the nonprofit Occupational Knowledge International examined 42 pots from 10 developing countries, and found that more than one-third posed a lead exposure risk. The highest level was in Vietnam, where one pot released 2,800 times more lead than California’s maximum allowable dose level of 0.5 micrograms per day.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is considering a recommendation to lower the blood lead “level of concern” for children from 5 to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, highlighting the hazard of even low levels of lead exposure. Lead exposure can cause brain damage and lowered IQ levels in children, as well as other adverse health effects. 

Arsenic, aluminum, and cadmium were also released in the process of cooking, the study found. On average, the levels of aluminum released were six times greater than World Health Organization dietary guidelines. Aluminum is suspected of contributing to neurodegenerative diseases, and cadmium is linked to kidney damage, cancer, and other health problems. Significant concentrations of cadmium were released from 30 percent of the pots. 

These pots are so ubiquitous and ingrained into the culture in places like West Africa that they’re even sold in African stores in the United States, commented one of the study authors, Perry Gottesfeld, via email. “They are really common and, to many, [are] cultural cookware used for certain kinds of foods.”

The Maliba African Market in Harlem, New York, sells the pots. A clerk who answered the phone there was aware that the pots release lead. But he said they fill the pots with water to test them before sale. He did not elaborate on how this test works precisely and declined to comment further.

Children search for melted aluminium among ashes of a burnt central market during fighting between the Chadian army and insurgents on Feb. 9, 2008, in N'Djamena, Chad. Scrap aluminum is often used in Africa to make cooking pots, which release lead and other toxins into food, according to a study published in the February 2017 issue of the journal Science of the Total Environment. (Kambou Sia/AFP/Getty Images)
Children search for melted aluminium among ashes of a burnt central market during fighting between the Chadian army and insurgents on Feb. 9, 2008, in N'Djamena, Chad. Scrap aluminum is often used in Africa to make cooking pots, which release lead and other toxins into food, according to a study published in the February 2017 issue of the journal Science of the Total Environment. Kambou Sia/AFP/Getty Images