Ayurvedic medicines often contaminated by toxic metals, study says

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Ayurvedic medicines often contaminated by toxic metals, study says

 

Lead, mercury and arsenic were found in the traditionally Indian herbal mixtures

at levels that would surpass California safety guidelines, says a researcher who

is calling for FDA curbs.

By Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

August 27, 2008

 

Ayurvedic medicines -- herbal mixtures dating back thousands of years in India

and increasingly popular in the West -- are frequently contaminated with lead,

mercury or arsenic, according to a study published today.

 

A fifth of the nearly 200 concoctions tested contained levels of the toxic

metals that, if taken at the maximum recommended doses, would surpass

California's safety guidelines.

 

 

Dr. Robert Saper, a Boston University professor of family medicine who led the

study, said the findings should spur the Food and Drug Administration to start

clamping down on the largely unregulated world of pills, herbs and powders

classified as dietary supplements.

 

" It shouldn't be me trying to figure this out, " Saper said.

 

Ayurveda is a traditional Indian practice that takes a holistic approach to

wellness, employing herbal medicine, meditation and exercise to promote good

health. It exists alongside modern medicine in India, with its own network of

clinics, hospitals and colleges serving hundreds of millions of patients.

 

 

It has spread to the U.S. and Europe with the migration of South Asians around

the world and been popularized by figures such as bestselling author Deepak

Chopra.

 

There are about two dozen ayurvedic training programs in the United States. A

2002 survey estimated that 750,000 U.S. residents have used the herbal

preparations, sold under both traditional Indian names and more marketable

labels such as GlucoRite and Ezi Slim.

 

Saper got interested in the supplements in 2003 after a man of Indian origin

showed up at a Boston-area emergency room with seizures. The culprit turned out

to be lead in the man's ayurvedic medicines. In an initial study published in

2004, Saper bought 70 ayurvedic products imported from India and found that

toxic metals were common components.

 

It was an unsettling finding, because most of the preparations are intended to

be taken as part of a daily regimen to improve health.

 

" Many, many studies are showing that even small levels of lead in the blood can

increase the risk of high blood pressure, kidney dysfunction and decreased IQ, "

Saper said.

 

Ayurvedic practitioners lashed out at the research as alarmist, saying that it

only showed there were problems with mixtures from India, not with U.S.-made

products.

 

They pointed out that in India, many of these metals are purposely blended with

herbs as part of the medicinal recipe. Those metallic mixtures are rarely used

in the United States, they said.

 

In the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., Saper

and his team analyzed 193 products purchased from 25 websites for Indian and

U.S. manufacturers. The vast majority supposedly contained only herbs and no

metals.

 

About 80% of the samples showed no detectable metal content. But among the

remaining samples, the toxic metals showed up at similar rates in both U.S. and

Indian-made products. Of the U.S. products, 21% contained lead, 3% contained

mercury and 3% had arsenic. Among the Indian-made medicines, 17% had lead, 7%

had mercury and none contained arsenic.

 

The researchers and other experts surmised that the contamination had less to do

with the manufacturing process than with the soils in which the herbs were

grown.

 

" The raw material is all coming from India, " said Kush Khanna, who runs Bazaar

of India in Berkeley, a manufacturer of ayurvedic medicines started by his

father in 1971.

 

Heavy metals showed up in 17 of the products the researchers ordered from his

company.

 

Khanna said two labs in India routinely tested the 80 or so ingredients he

imported.

 

The problem is that there are no unified standards for what is considered safe.

 

Lead levels allowed by the World Health Organization are 500 times the

California limits.

 

" Based on WHO standards, our products are perfect, " Khanna said. " They have not

exceeded any limits. "

 

The researchers found only two products that exceeded the WHO standards for lead

content. Both mixtures were from India and purposely prepared with metals as

ingredients.

 

In California, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986

requires that products containing certain levels of toxic metals carry warning

labels. But the act has no power to ban products, and companies with fewer than

10 employees, such as Khanna's, are exempt from the labeling requirements.

 

The FDA does not specify any limits for metal content in dietary supplements,

leaving it to the manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe.

 

Jennifer Rioux, a medical anthropologist who runs the Integral Ayurveda clinic

in Chapel Hill, N.C., said the research underscored the need for consumers to

consult with ayurvedic experts instead of buying and taking products on their

own.

 

She noted that the study showed many medicines to be perfectly safe, but she

worried that its conclusions would tar her profession.

 

" All people need is one study to provoke fear about an entire system of

medicine, " she said.

 

alan.zarembo

 

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