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Author Topic: Flaws in the FDA's assessment of risk to humans from melamine food contamination  (Read 155 times)
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Poco
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« on: July 19, 2008, 12:15:31 AM »

http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/files/MelamineCyanuricAcid_concept_508.pdf
"It should be emphasized that although the FDA/CFSAN Interim Melamine and Analogues Safety/Risk Assessment indicated that the scenario-driven consumption of meat products was “very unlikely to pose a human health risk” (10), the assessment did not take into account the currently known potent synergistic toxicological effect of melamine with cyanuric acid.
Of particular concern are the facts that it is not uncommon for the food industry to formulate both animal and human products within the same plant and that it was determined that the sacks containing the melamine-contaminated gluten were very poorly labeled. A direct melamine contamination of a human food product was and is an entirely feasible occurrence given this set of circumstances.
Another potential source of human exposure is vegetarian food preparation practices involving high levels of gluten. In such a scenario, the level of intake of melamine and its analogues could be similar to or even slightly higher than the levels that elicit toxicity in animal tests.
• Other sources
Other than the occupational exposure, a number of other potential human exposure sources should be considered with regard to melamine and its derivatives:
-Melamine resin, a hard thermosetting polymer made from melamine and formaldehyde, is widely used in the US in the form of kitchenware, including plates, bowls, mugs and utensils. Reports in the literature indicate that some kitchenware based on melamine resin leach considerable amounts of melamine monomer. A migration of up to 2.5 mg melamine/ 100 cm2 was observed under conditions that simulate an exposure to hot acidic foods (13, 14).
-Cyanuric acid is an FDA-accepted component of feed-grade biuret, a ruminant feed additive. The additive can legally contain up to 30% of cyanuric acid (and triuret) (15).
-As previously indicated, cyanuric acid is used as a stabilizer and disinfectant in swimming pool water. Although concentrations between 30 and 50 ppm of cyanuric acid have been recommended, the maximum allowable limits, dictated by state or local codes are typically 100 ppm (16). A study on the water ingestion during swimming activities in a pool indicates that the average amount of water swallowed by non-adults (under 18 years old) was on average 37 mL and reached 154 mL (17). Considering this scenario and a cyanuric acid concentration of 100 ppm in a swimming pool, these volumes translate into an ingestion of up to 15.4 mg of cyanuric acid by non-adults. Furthermore, the possibility that non-professionally managed pools and hot tubs may accidentally be treated with much higher concentrations of cyanuric acid should not be disregarded.




Other questions raised in a peer review:

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/melamra2.html
« Last Edit: July 19, 2008, 12:19:57 AM by Klondike » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2008, 08:45:44 PM »

I saw your cyanuric acid/English pool story in one of the pet food threads and am really inspired to make sure the levels are good in my pool.  The kids swallow water all the time.  Thank you.  I also think this addresses the concerns many of us had about what was not in the Safety Assessment.  Synergy and cyanuric acid level issues are so glaringly missing, yet few scientists or media openly, publicly questioned the missing pieces.  All they really looked at was melamine alone.  What a sham!
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« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2008, 12:40:17 AM »

I saw your cyanuric acid/English pool story in one of the pet food threads and am really inspired to make sure the levels are good in my pool.  The kids swallow water all the time.  Thank you.  I also think this addresses the concerns many of us had about what was not in the Safety Assessment.  Synergy and cyanuric acid level issues are so glaringly missing, yet few scientists or media openly, publicly questioned the missing pieces.  All they really looked at was melamine alone.  What a sham!

That was a shocking story about the pool water.  Sounds like somewhere between 150 to 500 ppm was all it took to cause severe burns.  At least with your own pool, you can make sure you don't exceed the recommended doses.

The melamine risk assesssment was a bigger sham than I had thought when you read that post.  If people knew about the risk of direct exposure from pet and human foods being processed in the same places, maybe that would finally raise standards for pet foods. 

Looks like if you consume melamine, you'd also run a risk of interaction with cyanuric acid if you drink chlorinated water.  The EPA was studying chlorinated pool and drinking water to assess risk from chlorine which was determined to be low - but look at what they concluded:

http://www.epa.gov/hpv/pubs/summaries/sdditriz/c14660rr.pdf
"CONCLUSIONS
The chlorinated isocyanurates react with saliva and stomach fluid as fast as they hydrolyze. Thus, any chlorinated isocyanurate
compounds that are ingested as small amounts of pure materials or in pool water or drinking water treated with these materials are
destroyed too quickly for the chlorinated compounds to be of toxicological consequence. The only cyanurate compound which is
relevant for toxicology due to ingestion under normal use conditions is cyanuric acid and its salts
."


If you eat vegan gluten burger contaminated with melamine followed by a dip in the pool or chaser of chlorinated water...who knows what would happen?   
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« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2008, 04:09:54 AM »


The melamine risk assesssment was a bigger sham than I had thought when you read that post.  If people knew about the risk of direct exposure from pet and human foods being processed in the same places, maybe that would finally raise standards for pet foods. 

If you eat vegan gluten burger contaminated with melamine followed by a dip in the pool or chaser of chlorinated water...who knows what would happen?   

And, perhaps, raise the standard for human food as well.  A win-win,  so rare these days.  But maybe.
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« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2008, 04:11:04 AM »

Klondike,

Thanks for posting.  This is very disturbing.

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