Are you taking herbal dietary supplements?

Herbal supplements being used in increasing quantities by Americans have been found to contain high levels of heavy metals and other toxic materials which could pose serious dangers to health, according a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The research team from the Boston University School of Medicine found that close to 21 percent of 193 Ayurvedic medicines sold on the Internet to U.S. customers contains lead, mercury and arsenic in dangerous concentrations, based on the California standards (set in the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986).

The team stressed that these results should serve as a wake-up call to the Food and Drug Administration to ensure the safety of consumers in regard to dietary supplements in the form of pills, herbs and powders. According to estimates, about 750,000 people in the U.S. use the Ayurvedic supplements on a regular basis.

Currently, the FDA does not set any standards for toxic metal content in the daily doses of dietary supplements. Instead, the task of ensuring the safety of dietary supplements is left to the manufacturers.

This lack of FDA limits is complicated by the lack of unified standards that define the safe levels of content. For example, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) allowable level of lead is 500 times higher than the limits set in the California law.

Based on the WHO standards, only two products of the 193 included in the study violate the allowable levels.

The team purchased the 193 products from 25 websites. Both Indian and U.S.-manufactured products were represented. Among the U.S.-made products, 21 percent contained lead, 3 percent had mercury and 3 percent yielded arsenic. Among the Indian-made formulations, 17 percent contained lead, 7 percent came with mercury, and none had arsenic. 

The team and other experts believe the contamination came more from the soils in which the herbs were grown than from the manufacturing process. All raw materials of U.S.-made formulations are imported from India.

The team acknowledged that there is strong evidence that the herbs included in Ayurvedic medicines can be of help in combating diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol levels. Ayurvedic medicines have been used in India for thousands of years.

But consumers need to have a key that helps them to separate what products are helpful and which ones are not.

For consumers who come across the study, it is important to remember that only one-fifth of the products analyzed were found to contain the toxic ingredients and that only the California limits have been violated. The remaining 80 percent of the products did not have any metal content.

Safety Tip:

* Consult an Ayurvedic expert. Avoid purchasing and taking Ayurvedic products on your own. Get the advice of an expert.