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

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

#201

Post by Filligree »

datavirtue wrote: post #183
Gud wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the US imposes its will on the rest of us by having an awesome arsenal and an eagerness to use it.

You forgot freedom and dignity. There is one source for that in the world, the US. You can flail all day but you won't be able to point to another power that preserves that chance for everyone.

That's impressively ahistorical. How many times have they overthrown a democracy in favour of a US-aligned dictatorship, now?

Iran was a functioning, secularizing democracy until the CIA got involved.

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

#202

Post by [deleted] »

kragen wrote: post #192
rayiner wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I lived there until I was five. Even at that age you learn not to see other people as human. You kind of have to—people do things like cut off kids’ hands to make them more effective at begging.[1] You walk through the street with amputees coming up to you. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jul/31/india.randeepr...

That seems like important context for your comment above, which otherwise people might read as akin to Churchill's dismissal of Gandhi as a "naked fakir".

[deleted]

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

#203

Post by ben_w »

datavirtue wrote: post #183
Gud wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the US imposes its will on the rest of us by having an awesome arsenal and an eagerness to use it.

You forgot freedom and dignity. There is one source for that in the world, the US. You can flail all day but you won't be able to point to another power that preserves that chance for everyone.

I live somewhere that exemplifies "another power that preserves that chance for everyone".

Streets around here are paved with small brass plaques to remind people of what happens if you fail to preserve that for everyone.

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

#204

Post by account42 »

lostlogin wrote: post #150
ericmay wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The agency of Americans is also contributing to this reccuring. I’m going to push back very, very hard on ascribing any sort of blame on anyone other than those who are committing these acts. Least of all the American taxpayer, regardless of whether or not dismantling USAID is a good idea. If the rest of the world is so helpless that all hope depends on Americans to solve even problems such as this and it’s our fau…

The problem is present in America, per the article. ‘In the early 2000s, New York City's health department noticed a perplexing blip: A surprisingly large number of Bangladeshi children in New York City were showing up in their lead database.’ For the cost of the research mentioned in the article, that seems a small sum to pay relative to the result achieved. ‘Soft power’ is not valued by many anymore, but cut it all…

The article also states that it was mainly tumeric the affected persons imported themselves, not that there is a lead problem with tumeric on US shelves.

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

#205

Post by account42 »

Filligree wrote: post #129
steveBK123 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, I'm 100% against the dismantling of our foreign aid programs, USAID included.. However, the world playing both sides of the coin on "US World Police" being bad when it does stuff but also bad when it doesn't do stuff is part of how we end up where we are. It's a minuscule part of our budget, but an easy sell for right wingers to say "well the world isn't grateful for it and its all a bunch of waste so we are k…

The rest of the world may think it's bad when the CIA does things, and bad when USAID doesn't do things. The nature of the thing which is being done is relevant.

Yes and if they want to choose what is done they don't get to demand that others do it.

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

#206

Post by account42 »

refurb wrote: post #163
steveBK123 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, I'm 100% against the dismantling of our foreign aid programs, USAID included.. However, the world playing both sides of the coin on "US World Police" being bad when it does stuff but also bad when it doesn't do stuff is part of how we end up where we are. It's a minuscule part of our budget, but an easy sell for right wingers to say "well the world isn't grateful for it and its all a bunch of waste so we are k…

I think it’s important for people to educate themselves about USAID. International aid isn’t the point, it’s a channel for shaping the world according to the US’ goals. For example, look up the role of USAID in the Vietnam war. It was used to fund village self defense forces and the Phoenix program which used targeted apprehension and assassination to combat the Viet Cong. Sure it dug a few wells but net net I don’t…

It's because those people like (some of) the interference USAID has been doing.

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

#207

Post by account42 »

williamscales wrote: post #111
vasusen wrote: post #4

I grew up in India and now live in the US. My mom recently got some ground turmeric from our own farm when she visited us. I am was stunned by how much more duller, brownish-yellow it was compared to the turmeric I buy in Indian stores in the US. Those are usually really bright yellows. Now, I am really scared that even stuff sold in California is probably lead paint tainted turmeric.

I'm curious about getting a personal XRF device for this reason. They don't look "that" expensive, I found some for $5k to $10k on Alibaba. Is it overkill? Probably yes. Am I overly paranoid about my health and would also like to generally have an XRF device? Also yes.

What radiation source do they use? Could it potentially be a bigger hazard than the spices if you don't handle it properly?

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

#208

Post by account42 »

mook wrote: post #109
GloriousKoji wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't follow youtube links during work hours as a personal policy but an India government webpage outlines the water test for whole tumeric: https://eatrightindia.gov.in/dart/ > Test 14 : Detection of lead chromate in turmeric whole > Testing Method: > * Add small quantity of turmeric whole in a transparent glass of water. > * Pure turmeric will not leave any colour. > * Adulterated turmeric appears to be bright in…

Test 15 is the test for powdered tumeric. Of course, their photographs also look photoshopped (the pure and adulterated photos have the exact same pattern near the bottom), which was rather confusing…

Even without that it's hard to make a judgement of the results without having something to compare it with.

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

#209

Post by account42 »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #172
in_cahoots wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But for anyone who knows the Bangladeshi community this isn't a surprise at all. Neither the source nor the way it wakes its way into immigrants diets. Every time my Bengali friends visit Bangladesh they take an empty suitcase to fill with spices, sweets, and the like. The adulteration has been going on for decades. I feel like the article should have been written from that perspective- an outsider discovering how a…

Eh? Adulteration has been going on for decades, yet your friends deliberately pack light so they can bring back those contaminated spices?

Contaminated spices they have grown up with, yes. One of the insidious things about lead poisoning is that low levels are not that apparent when looking at an individual but still have a significant effect - you wouldn't know if you are less intelligent than you would be without exposure.

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

#210

Post by account42 »

fakedang wrote: post #195
maxerickson wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, the culprit isn't turmeric, it's lead chromate that farmers were putting on turmeric. For most readers of English, it is not an expected fact that someone would be intentionally adding lead to food. In the article, the turmeric related lead poisonings were due to turmeric bought at Bangladeshi markets, not processed, packaged spices bought from a grocer.

In most of South Asia, including India and Bangladesh, we were often taught in school that adding lead paint to turmeric is extremely prevalent (along with a number of other adulteration techniques for other foods). We were also taught various tests we could carry out to test food quality. If there were elevated levels of lead in a South Asian population , and only them, the first thing any reasonable scientist or de…

Yes, but that would be "racist".
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