1 Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York 10467
We are grateful for this opportunity to clarify some of the issues raised by Dr. Sarett's comments.
As previously reported, the high levels of lead (Pb) in "processed infant formulas," recorded by Lamm et al. in 1971 to 1972, were confirmed by federal (FDA and CDC) and industrial laboratories. Moreover, comparable findings were reflected in careful review of the world literature, including several of Dr. Sarett's references. For the sake of argument, however, even if one agrees with Dr. Sarett's opinion that the measurements of Pb in "processed infant formulas" erred in being on the high side, these formulas nevertheless contained a highly significant amount of Pb.