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Lead pigment in turmeric is the culprit in a global poisoning mystery (2024)

(www.npr.org)
349 points perihelions | 2 comments | 11 Jul 25 15:33 UTC | HN request time: 0.465s | source
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infinitifall ◴[11 Jul 25 18:46 UTC] No.44535649[source]▶
I'm put off by how this is framed as a detective story. Pesticides that contain heavy metals and other carcinogens are a well known issue, with India (and South Asia more generally) being the worst affected.

> You'll never guess the culprit

Not knowing about turmeric comes off as deeply ignorant when a billion people consume it as part of their daily diet.

> They don't know that this is harmful for human health

Let me assure you that they absolutely do and they couldn't care less. This also makes it seem like poor clueless farmers are to blame while mega-corporations that process, package, market and distribute these spices are never given even a passing mention!

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1. offnominal ◴[11 Jul 25 19:51 UTC] No.44536215[source]▶
I quite enjoyed it. You're in a different part of the world and only have access to lead level data from your local population. You spot an anomaly in a cultural subgroup. Then through extensive guesswork you pinpoint a cause to a specific additive to a spice often consumed by folks in this culture. I would say that qualifies as a detective story.

But anyway, lead chromate is not a pesticide. The level of harm from pesticides containing heavy metals vs lead chromate is different. You're probably much much less likely to see lead poisoning levels in your blood just by consuming food treated only with pesticides.

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2. ujkiolp ◴[11 Jul 25 23:32 UTC] No.44537881[source]▶
I quite hated it. Very poorly written article with no greys