Heavy metals in Herbal medicines

[Guest guest]

FYI..

 

Noel Gilbert

Counselor

Body, Mind & Soul

LifeStyle Counselor

Ayurveda - Herbalism

Nutrition - Medical Astrology

 

 

 

Heidi Verpy [heidijo78]

Tuesday, December 14, 2004 5:09 PM

Nutrition_and_Dietetics_

[Nutrition_and_Dietetics_] FW: JAMA pub. re: heavy metal

concentrations in Ayurvedic medicine

 

Heavy Metal Content of Ayurvedic Herbal Medicine Products

 

Robert B. Saper, MD, MPH; Stefanos N. Kales, MD, MPH; Janet Paquin, PhD;

Michael J. Burns, MD; David M. Eisenberg, MD; Roger B. Davis, ScD;

Russell S. Phillips, MD

 

JAMA. 2004;292:2868-2873.

 

Context Lead, mercury, and arsenic intoxication have been associated

with the use of Ayurvedic herbal medicine product (HMPs).

 

Objectives To determine the prevalence and concentration of heavy metals

in Ayurvedic HMPs manufactured in South Asia and sold in Boston-area

stores and to compare estimated daily metal ingestion with regulatory

standards.

 

Design and Setting Systematic search strategy to identify all stores 20

miles or less from Boston City Hall that sold Ayurvedic HMPs from South

Asia by searching online Yellow Pages using the categories markets,

supermarkets, and convenience stores, and business names containing the

word India, Indian cities, and Indian words. An online national

directory of Indian grocery stores, a South Asian community business

directory, and a newspaper were also searched. We visited each store and

purchased all unique Ayurvedic HMPs between April 25 and October 24, 2003.

 

Main Outcome Measures Concentrations (µg/g) of lead, mercury, and

arsenic in each HMP as measured by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

Estimates of daily metal ingestion for adults and children estimated

using manufacturers' dosage recommendations with comparisons to US

Pharmacopeia and US Environmental Protection Agency regulatory standards.

 

Results A total of 14 (20%) of 70 HMPs (95% confidence interval,

11%-31%) contained heavy metals: lead (n = 13; median concentration, 40

µg/g; range, 5-37 000), mercury (n = 6; median concentration, 20 225

µg/g; range, 28-104 000), and/or arsenic (n = 6; median concentration,

430 µg/g; range, 37-8130). If taken as recommended by the manufacturers,

each of these 14 could result in heavy metal intakes above published

regulatory standards.

 

Conclusions One of 5 Ayurvedic HMPs produced in South Asia and available

in Boston South Asian grocery stores contains potentially harmful levels

of lead, mercury, and/or arsenic. Users of Ayurvedic medicine may be at

risk for heavy metal toxicity, and testing of Ayurvedic HMPs for toxic

heavy metals should be mandatory.

 

 

Author Affiliations: Division for Research and Education in

Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, Osher Institute,

Harvard Medical School, Boston (Drs Saper, Eisenberg, Phillips, and

Davis); Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of

Medicine (Drs Saper, Eisenberg, Phillips, and Davis), and Division of

Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine (Dr Burns), Beth Israel

Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; The Cambridge Hospital, Harvard

Medical School, Cambridge (Dr Kales); Occupational Health Program,

Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health,

Boston (Dr Kales); and New England Regional Laboratory, Environmental

Protection Agency, North Chelmsford (Dr Paquin), Mass. Dr Saper is now

with the Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of

Medicine, Boston, Mass.