Milk - Melamine

China milk poisoning cases rise

Chinese customers queue to return suspect milk powder brands purchased at a supermarket in Hefei, Anhui province on 19/09/08
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have recalled tainted products

Nearly 53,000 children in China are now known to have been made ill by milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, officials say.

About 13,000 of the victims remain in hospital, the health ministry added. Four children have died.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has visited sick children in hospitals and apologised for the food scandal.

Most victims are under two years old, and at least 104 of those in hospital are in a serious condition.

The health ministry announced the new figures Monday. It said the sick children had consumed milk powder from the Sanlu Group, the company where the contamination was first revealed two weeks ago.

Local media reports suggested the new number was the result of health officials' checks of hospital records from May this year to trace the origins of the
contamination.



Melamine Toxicity

Melamine by itself is nontoxic in low doses, but when combined with cyanuric acid it can cause fatal kidney stones due to the formation of an insoluble melamine cyanurate.Melamine is described as being "Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Chronic exposure may cause cancer or reproductive damage. Eye, skin and respiratory irritant.” However, the toxic dose is on a par with common table salt with an LD50 of more than 3 grams per kilogram of bodyweight.FDA scientists explained that when melamine and cyanuric acid are absorbed into the bloodstream, they concentrate and interact in the urine-filled renal microtubules, then crystallize and form large numbers of round, yellow crystals, which in turn block and damage the renal cells that line the tubes, causing the kidneys to malfunction.