Chris Geow Chun Ping – outline of Melamine
In September 2008, several companies were implicated in a scandal involving milk and infant formula which had been adulterated with melamine, leading to kidney stones and otherrenal failure, especially among young children. By December 2008, nearly 300,000 people had become ill, with more than 50,000 infant hospitalizations and six infant deaths. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it was reported that melamine exposure increased the incidence of urinary tract stones by seven times in children. Melamine may have been added to fool government protein content tests after water was added to fraudulently dilute the milk. Because of melamine's high nitrogen content (66% by mass versus approx. 10–12% for typical protein), it can cause the protein content of food to appear higher than the true value. Officials estimate that about 20 percent of the dairy companies tested in China sell products tainted with melamine. On January 22, 2009, three of those involved in the scandal (including one conditional sentence) were sentenced to death in a Chinese court.
So, what is melamine?
Melamine (is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses. Melamine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, apesticide. It is formed in the body of mammals who have ingested cyromazine. It has been reported that cyromazine can also be converted to melamine in plants.
Melamine combines with cyanuric acid to form melamine cyanurate, which has been implicated as a contaminant in Chinese exported proteins.
