foodconsumer.org: Poligrip denture cream linked to zinc poisoning

Poligrip denture cream linked to zinc poisoning
================================================================================
admin on 02/21/2010 13:33:00
 
GlaxoSmithKline has decided to stop using zinc in its Poligrip denture cream
after hundreds of users filed lawsuits claiming the product had damaged their
nervous systems, the Associated Press reported.
The lawsuits alleged that use of Poligrip has led to loss of balance, sensation
loss in the hands and feet, and paralysis in some consumers.  The worst par,
according to the lawsuits, is that Glaxo did not warn consumers about the
potential overdosing of zinc in the users.
The London-based Glaxo reported more than $520 million in denture adhesive sales
last year.  AP cited its sources as saying that an estimated 30 million people
in the U.S. wear dentures and use products like Poligrip.
The company stressed that using its product as directed should pose no risk and
some people excessively use the denture cream to correct ill-fitting dentures.
The product was said to contain 38 milligrams of zinc per ounce and some
patients used one tube of Poligrip a week resulting in ingestion of about 45
times the recommended dose of zinc, according to the AP citing attorney Ed.
Blizzard as saying.
The recommended dietary allowance for zinc is 11 mg per day for male adolescents
and adults, and 8 mg per day for girls aged 9 to 13 and adults aged 19 and older
(9 mg per day for girls aged 14 to 18), according to Linus Pauling Institute.
Zinc is an essential mineral that plays both structural and regulatory roles in
human physiology. However, use of more than 50 mg per day or more over a period
of weeks can lower copper bioavailability and cause damage to the brain.
Zinc used in denture cream is believed to help with adhesion of the products. 
But Glaxo did not disclose the fact that its denture cream contains the metal
until after researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
in Dallas in 2008 suggested a possible link between denture cream zinc and nerve
damage in an article published in a medical journal, the AP reported.
Denture cream called Fixodent made by P&G also contains zinc, but Michelle
Vaeth, a spokeswoman for the company, was cited as saying that its product
contains only half of what is found in Poligrip - the amount that may be found
in a hamburger.
Beef contains relatively high amounts of zinc - 2 mg per pounce of cooked beef. 
Food that contains the highest amount of zinc is probably oyster which contains
13 mg per oyster of the medium size.
Although exposure to high amounts of zinc can put consumers at risk, zinc
deficiency can also result in a series of diseases and health problems.
By David Liu and editing by Denise Reynolds