A BATCH OF SLOW POISONERS.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 833, 4 July 1871, Page 3

A BATCH OF SLOW POISONERS.

(froa the " Medical Press and Circular.") The Corporation of Dublin have decided action relative to the Wfl of poisonous and adulterated confectionery in that city. The specimens * ere obtained in the following man®ef:—An officer of the Public Health wnmittee of the Corporation of purchased a quantity of conations at thirteen establishments, the sugar boiling industry is When buying the samples B gave notice to the vendors of his Mention to convey them at once to ** Cameron, the City Analyst, in m, Er that they might be analysed. J® notice was given in accordance ill 6 the provisions of the Food »i' i • ra .^ on Prevention Act of 1860, . c « is intended to give the vendor n °fP°rtunity of accompanying the i«wu Sep *°. analyst, so as to prow !r"T idea tampered with >toW number of different kinds 123 Tk^ on 3 exam ' ne< i amounted to m kvi ose manufactured at three 2: men ta were quite pure; the {ten ,10Ila itemed at the other shops .m number) contained poisonous tuwL an< * ot^er impurities. Out toilr + Confect i°n« coloured yellow, thei" hue to saffron. 11 tt! 8 c °[ our ®d with gamboge; and others were coloured with

chromate of lead, in quantities varying from l-4000th lo lees than l-IOOOth of the weight of the confections. The common sugar stick, sold at three halfpence per two ounces, contained the largest proportion of chromate of lead. Twelve articles—chiefly lozenges and sugar almonds—had a bright orange hue, due to the presence of a variety of chromate of lead. Thirty-eight of the specimens—comprising " poaches," sugar almondß, lozenges, comfits, sugar-stick, sugarballs, &c, had various shades of red, from a faint pink to a bright scarlet. Of these, thirty-six specimens were coloured with cochineal, mercuric sulphido, or vermillion, in the proportion of four grains per oz of the confection.

At one time arsenite of copper was frequently used to impart a brilliant green colour to confectionery; but the numerous accidents which occurred from the employment of this poisonous pigment have so alarmed the public that green confectionery is now scarcely to be met with. Only one of the specimens examined was coloured green, and that was only a small figure of a baby with a green frock on it. The colour was composed of a mixture of Prussian blue and chromate of lead. Blue is not a popular colour; only one specimen having streaks of this was contained in 123 samples. The pigment employed was ultramarine. Six specimens were brilliantly coloured with coal tar dyes, mauve, magenta, &c. The analine dyes, when allowed to come in contact with the skin occasionally produce toxic effects. As these dyes are liable to contain traces of lead, mercury, and arsenic, their use should be absolutely prohibited, as in Paris, under a severe penalty, on any substance intended for human food. An article of food containing more than a grain of chromate of lead per ounce may well be regarded as a slow poison. Soft water containing less than one grain of lead per gallon (70,000 grains weight) has often produced poisonous effects on individuals and families. Chromium, an ingredient of chromate of lead, is also a poisonous metal. Six grains of a salt of this metal injected into the jugular vein of a dog caused the death of the animal. Workmen engaged in the preparation of chromate of potash often suffer from an ulceration of the throat, resembling that of secondary syphilis, and also from slow necrosis of the nasal bones. There is no doubt but that the use of confectionery colored with chromate of lead produces a large amount of infantile disease. There is a general belief in the inertness of vermillion, but Dr Cameron stated that he had experimented with it, and that it produced mercurialism in the human subject when taken in large doses. The lozenges purchased at two of the thirteen confectioners' shops contained from 12 to 15 per cent, of an insoluble white clay, known in the trade under the term of terra alba. The peaches, sugar-almonds, lozenges, and comfits contained rice, starch, and gumarabic. Cough lozenges and bath pipe contained gum sugar, and extract of liquorice—a few of them being slightly medicated by the addition of opium and camphor (probably in the form of paregoric elixir.) Small quantities (under three per cent.) of plaster of Paris were found in the bath pipe and cough lozenges, but they were probably derived from adulterated liquorice extract. A figure of a baby in its cradle had the following composition :—The cradle was composed of a mixture of plaster of Paris and sugar; the body of the baby was sugar and rice starch; its eyes were Prussian-blue, its cheeks were tinted with cochineal, and its clothes were painted with chromate of lead. The ten sugar confectioners whose wares were found to contain objectionable matters were prosecuted before the police magistrate. Five of them on paying costs (£3), and promising to abandon the use of poisonous pigments, were " let off with a caution j" the others were fined respectively £5 and £3 costs, £1 and £1 costs, £1 and £1 costs, 10s and £3 costs, and 10s. We hope these exposures will act as a warning to manufacturers in other parts of the kingdom.