Folk Remedies Often Turn Out to Be Prescriptions for Danger

State health officials say lead-based folk remedies are responsible for some of the most severe poisonings of children.

Azarcon, a brilliant orange powder used in the manufacture of paint, is a Mexican folk remedy for “empacho” or indigestion. A chemical compound that is about 90% lead, Azarcon is ingested in herbal tea. Greta, a similar compound that is mustard-colored, is also used to treat stomach ailments, particularly among Mexicans living in the Rio Grande area. Lead-based Mexican folk remedies are also known as Liga, Maria Luisa, Alarcon, Coral and Rueda.

Mary Haan, a project director and epidemiologist for the state health department’s childhood lead poisoning program, said the number of poisonings by ethnic remedies has “not been huge.”

“It’s just that when they do occur, they tend to be very acute poisonings,” she said. “The kids get hospitalized, and they suffer encephalopathy,” which can cause mental retardation. “If its administered in large quantities, as it can be, it’s quite life-threatening to the child.”

An Asian folk medicine known as Pay-loo-ah, a red or orange powder used for treating fever, has been implicated in lead poisonings among Hmong children from Laos. Other Asian and Indian folk medicines that contain lead include Ghasard, Bali Goli and Kandu.

In Arab countries, a lead-based black pigment called Alkohl-kohl is used for treating skin infections and diarrhea, sterilizing the umbilical cord and as a teething powder and a cosmetic.

Among Armenians and East Indian communities, a black, lead-based powder called Surma has been blamed for some elevated lead levels in both adults and children. Used as a cosmetic and treatment for eye ailments, the substance can be passed on to nursing babies through their mother’s milk.

Abel Martinez, health education officer for Los Angeles County, said ethnic remedies are usually brought into this country from overseas, where they may be sold in herbal stores or by herbal practitioners.