Remanufactured aluminium pans pose health risk

Locally made aluminium cooking utensils, used widely by many Iraqis, pose a serious health risk, according to a survey carried out by the Marketing Research and Consumer Protection Centre (MRCPC) at Baghdad University. The survey was carried out a year after the 2003 war and looked at 15 randomly selected examples of locally remanufactured aluminium utensils from various factories around Baghdad. "The results showed that there was a high level of aluminium [that could be released into food] in these samples of remanufactured food pans. [The levels found] are very dangerous to human life as they have a poisonous effect on the neurological system and can be a cause of Alzheimer's disease, memory loss and sometimes renal failure," MRCPC Director Muna al-Turki, told IRIN in Baghdad. "These pans were available on the Iraqi market before and after the war, but after the war things got worse with local factories no longer under watch," al-Turki said. At that time, the supervision of local industries was done by the special institute for engineering and industry, under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. After the war, this institute was dissolved and many industries are no longer being monitored for quality. Aluminium utensils are commonly used by most Iraqis and are available throughout the country. They are popular because they are cheap and efficient. "I bought some local pans a month ago, but after I used them for short time black spots appeared on the surface of the metal, then holes appeared in all the pans," May Hassin, a Baghdad housewife, told IRIN. Al-Turki said that the holes and spots are proof that there were dangerous elements in the metal used to make the pans, which can be seen when heated. Although there are no statistics on how many people have fallen ill after using the cooking utensils, those who have, said they feel cheated and want the government to act before illnesses spread. "I suffered for six months from a kidney problem. The doctors told me that there was substantial damage to my kidney but nobody could tell me what the reasons were for this," Bushra Hassan from Sadr city in Baghdad, told IRIN. "My blood test results showed high traces of metal like aluminium in my blood and kidneys," she added. Hassan's doctor confirmed that her illness was due to toxic metal. "It is obvious that Bushra's kidney is suffering from aluminum exposure and has contributed directly to hepatic failure, renal failure," Dr Majed al-Naemi, specialist in kidney disease at Sadr city hospital, told IRIN. "We keep thinking about the source of this aluminum in such high levels in her blood and kidneys, the only reasonable answer was the Iraqi cooking utensils because they are made from aluminum which is remanufactured," he explained. Aside from the toxic elements in the metal itself, al-Turki said there was also the possibility of radiation pollution. This was especially true following the looting during and after the 2003 war when potentially contaminated metal was taken from military factories or from laboratories of the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission and reused to make pans. "We did not check the radiation in these pans because we did not have the equipment, but there could be a possibility of this kind of pollution as some ingots carry a high specification [metal], which is used in nuclear programmes or for rockets," she said. During the sanctions imposed on Iraq in the 1990s many local factories used aluminium casting to manufacture food pans, because imports were not allowed. "The waste aluminium could be used in aeroplane bodies, windows, doors frames, or electrical cables. Before we used to examine every sample we sold. Today we sell these castings without checking," Maher Katab, owner of a casting furnace, told IRIN. But sometimes problems can be highlighted in the manufacturing process, as one factory owner discovered. "I faced problems during the manufacturing of food pans, which affected my machine for making aluminium food pans," Tarek al-Shakily, the owner of a local Baghdad pan factory, told IRIN. "I took my ingot [metal] to be examined in a private laboratory and they told me that it had a very specific aluminium casting which may have come from the military industry," al-Shakily said. The Ministry of Health (MoH) acknowledges the risks from using such pans, but says that responsibility for quality and control belongs to the Ministry of Planning (MoP). "It is not our duty to watch these factories - that is the quality and control centre's responsibility," Dr Na'ama Saeid, director-general of health at the MoH, told IRIN. He added that so far they had not seen any deaths registered due to metal poisoning as heavy elements can take a long time to have an effect on the human body. Meanwhile, the MoP blamed a lack of security for their inability to tackle the problem. "We know about these pans and we know the factories that manufacture them but we cannot do anything at the moment because the security situation in the country is preventing us from doing our duty," Ra'ad al-Kassy, from the quality control department of the MoP, told IRIN.