Ashland University Involved in Research Showing Lead Released from African Cookware Contaminates Food

Lead levels in foods prepared in aluminum pots from Cameroon exceed U.S. guidelines for lead consumption according to a new study published this month in Science of the Total Environment.  Significant levels of aluminum and cadmium were also found to be leached from the cookware.  

Chemistry professors Jeff Weidenhamer and Rebecca Corbin as well as senior biochemistry major and Choose Ohio First scholar Peter Kobunski were involved in the research, which included testing 29 samples of cookware.  The study was conducted in partnership with Occupational Knowledge International in San Francisco and the Cameroonian NGO Research and Education Centre for Development (CREPD). 

More details about this work is available through EurekAlert!, a global news service for science, medicine, and technology.  An audio slide presentation as well as the journal article may be accessed here.