Washington, Aug 27: Traditional Indian medicines bought on the Internet and used throughout the world contain levels of lead, mercury or arsenic that exceed acceptable standards, according to astudy in the August 27 issue of JAMA.
The medicines also called, as Ayurvedic drugs, are used by a majority of India's 1.1 billionpopulation and worldwide by people from South Asia, as well as others.
In the article "however, since 1978 more than 80 cases of lead poisoning associated withAyurvedic medicine use have been reported worldwide," the researchers state.
Ayurvedic medicines are divided into two major types: herbal-only and rasa shastra, which is an ancient practice of deliberately combining herbs with metals (e. g., mercury, lead, iron, zinc), minerals (e. g., mica) and gems (e. g., pearl).
Rasa shastra experts claim that these medicines, if properly prepared and administered, are safe and therapeutic. The prevalence of metals in Ayurvedic medicines sold via the Internet and in those manufactured in the United States is unknown.
Robert B. Saper, M. D., M. P. H., of Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, and colleagues conducted a study to determine the prevalence of Ayurvedic medicinesavailable via the Internet containing detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic and compared the prevalence of toxic metals between U. S.- and Indian-manufactured products, and in rasa shastra vs. non–rasa shastra medicines. The researchers conducted an Internet search using the search terms Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine and identified 673 products, of which 230Ayurvedic medicines were randomly selected for purchase in August - October 2005.
Country of manufacturer/Web site supplier, rasa shastra status, and claims of Good Manufacturing Practices were recorded. Metal concentrations were measured using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. One hundred ninety-three of the 230 requested medicines were received and analyzed.
The researchers found that the prevalence of metal-containing products was 20.7 percent and that the prevalence of metals in U.S.-manufactured products was 21.7 percent, compared with 19.5 percent in Indian products.
Rasa shastra medicines were more than twice as likely as non–rasa shastra products to contain detectable metals and had higher median (midpoint) concentrations of lead and mercury. Among the metal-containing products, 95 percent were sold by U. S. Web sites and 75 percent claimed Good Manufacturing Practices. All metal-containing products exceeded 1 or more standards for acceptable daily metal intake.
"Several Indian-manufactured rasa shastra medicines could result in lead and/or mercury ingestions 100 to 10,000 times greater than acceptable limits," the researchers said.
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