Study finds contaminants in iron supplements

New data shows concentrations of arsenic, chromium and/or lead exceeding the permitted daily exposure limit for humans in 15 of 16 widely used injectable iron products for baby pigs.

Only one product was free of the three contaminants, according to the study done at Iowa State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

“These substances should be avoided in the pork production chain and it is up to the pig producers to make sure that arsenic, chromium and lead are not injected into piglets,” said Professor Jens Peter Nielsen of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The contaminations exceeded the FDA and EMA permitted daily exposure limit for humans.

Only one product – Uniferon – had non-detectable levels of both arsenic and lead.