[Pharmwaste] Unsafe imports slipping into U.S.

[Stevan Gressitt]

Many many many examples of that exist. Check with your local Drug
Enforcement Authority. Stevan Gressitt, M.D. 

-----Original Message-----
From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Ross Bunnell
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 10:09 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: Re: [Pharmwaste] Unsafe imports slipping into U.S.

We had a scare in CT and RI a few years ago concerning a product called
"Litargirio," a product from the Dominican Republic that is recommended by
the manufacturer for treating funguses and burns.  Turns out this product is
almost pure lead oxide, and had been linked to at least one childhood lead
poisoning in RI.  CT's Department of Public Health issued a health advisory
to warn local health officials of the dangers of this product, and address
exposure risks in the communities where this product may be sold.

One wonders how many of these products are out there....

Ross Bunnell, CT DEP
Bureau of Waste Management
(860) 424-3274
ross.bunnell at po.state.ct.us 


>>> "Gilliam, Allen" <GILLIAM at adeq.state.ar.us> 03/21/06 09:09AM >>>
Anyone catch this article today?  You'll probably have to cut and paste
this looooong link into your search engine for it to work...

Gonna have to get the fda, homeland security or customs more involved
with this stuff?  

The issue seems to only get deeper and deeper.....

Allen gilliam
Adeq state pretreatment coordinator  

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2006/03/19/unsafe_i 
mports_slip_through_regulatory_net/

see below a short, cut and pasted excerpt from the story 

Breaking News Alerts

NEW YORK --The poison arrived in a plastic bottle from India bearing a
simple label in English and Hindi. "Useful in flu and bodyache," it
read. "Two tabs twice a day or as per physician's advice."
 
What it didn't say was that the herbal medicine, on sale at a store in
Queens, contained 2,190 times the amount of mercury considered safe by
the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

The tablets were among a variety of imported products seized by New York
City health officials last year in immigrant-rich neighborhoods filled
with exotic world goods -- some of which make it onto shelves without
being evaluated by safety agencies like the Food and Drug
Administration.

Other products that have been the subject of recent warnings include two
pesticides banned in the U.S. because they are dangerous to children: an
Asian roach killer nicknamed "Chinese Chalk" and a Latin American rat
poison called "Tres Pasitos," or "three little steps," referring to how
far a rat can walk before succumbing to the poison.

Last spring, authorities urged residents to stay away from unpasteurized
Mexican cheese that had turned up at groceries in Brooklyn and Queens,
saying it may contain a bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

A surge in foreign imports has made it increasingly challenging for U.S.
food, health and customs officials to check the safety of all the
products entering the country. Some 13.7 million imported products
subject to FDA regulation entered the U.S. in fiscal 2005, compared to
7.9 million three years earlier, the agency said.

Almost all shipments are subject to automated screening, during which
computers hunt cargo invoices for products with potential safety
problems. But only about 75,000 shipments each year wind up being
sampled and tested, said FDA spokesman Michael Herndon.

Customs officials get regular alerts on unsafe foods, cosmetics and
medicines that should be barred, and inspectors seize items every week
that don't meet U.S. standards, from contaminated fish from Asia, to
Mexican cosmetics with unsafe color additives.

But the system is less effective when it comes to undocumented cargo
that crosses the border daily in trucks, people's luggage or car trunks,
by mail or inside larger shipments.

The flow of those undocumented products is small, but it can add up in
the nation's immigrant gateways.

California, for example, has struggled for years with the sale of
imported Mexican candies contaminated with lead.

Cont................
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