Flour contamination as a source of lead intoxication

Case Report: A 43-year-old man was hospitalized because of severe anemia an d recurrent bouts of abdominal pain over 20 days. There was no known occupa tional exposure to toxins. Concomitantly, the patient's father complained o f having the same symptoms. Familial lead poisoning was diagnosed when all 6 family members tested had high blood leads (31-64 mu g/dL). Results: Foll owing detailed examination of the potential sources common to all members o f the household, the cause of poisoning was determined to be corn flour con taining 38.7 mg/g lead. Physicians are reminded to consider lead poisoning in the differential diagnosis of individuals with unexplained symptoms, par ticularly those of abdominal discomfort and anemia.