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WASHINGTON, D.C., December 16, 2004: A study by the Harvard Medical School on Indian ayurvedic medicines sold in the US says some have been found to contain dangerous levels of lead, mercury and arsenic. Fourteen of 70 different ayurvedic medicines bought from South Asian grocery stores in the Boston area had “potentially harmful levels of lead, mercury and/or arsenic,” says the study published in the Journal of American Medical Association. “Users of ayurvedic medicine may be at risk for heavy metal toxicity, and testing of ayurvedic herbal medicine products for toxic heavy metals should be mandatory,” say the authors of the study, Dr. Robert B. Saper, Dr. Stefanos N. Kales and five others.



The list of manufacturers some of whose products have failed the test in varying degrees reads like a who’s who of Indian ayurvedic industry: Baidyanath, Navjeevan, Zandu, Dabur, Himalaya and Unjha Ayuredic Pharmacy. According to details provided by Dr. Kales to the Hindustan Times, the most alarming levels of toxicity have been found in three products from the Baidyanath stable: Mahayograj Guggulu with silver and Makardhwaj, Swarna Mahayograj Guggulu with gold, and Mahalaksmi Vilas Ras with gold. The other medicines with high toxicity included: Unjha’s Navratna Rasa and Navjeevan’s Bala Sogathi. Lead toxicity in relatively smaller doses was found in Zandu’s Maha Sudarshan Churna and Bala Guti, Dabur’s Maha Sudarshan Churna, Himalaya’s Karela, Harinarayan Pharmacy’s Gesari, and Jalaram’s Bal Chamcha, and Syncom’s Shilajit.



The Harvard team of researchers bought the ayurvedic medicines from some 30 South Asian stores in the Boston area between April 25 and October 24 last year and conducted extensive tests. The study has measured concentrations of lead, mercury and arsenic in each of the samples by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. “If taken as recommended by the manufacturers, each of these 14 could result in heavy metal intakes above published regulatory standards,” it said and proposed mandatory US testing of all imported dietary supplements for toxic metals.

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