Toxic Element Contamination of Natural Health Products and Pharmaceutical Preparations

Abstract

BackgroundConcern has recently emerged regarding the safety of natural health products (NHPs)–therapies that are increasingly recommended by various health providers, including conventional physicians. Recognizing that most individuals in the Western world now consume vitamins and many take herbal agents, this study endeavored to determine levels of toxic element contamination within a range of NHPs.MethodsToxic element testing was performed on 121 NHPs (including Ayurvedic, traditional Chinese, and various marine-source products) as well as 49 routinely prescribed pharmaceutical preparations. Testing was also performed on several batches of one prenatal supplement, with multiple samples tested within each batch. Results were compared to existing toxicant regulatory limits.ResultsToxic element contamination was found in many supplements and pharmaceuticals; levels exceeding established limits were only found in a small percentage of the NHPs tested and none of the drugs tested. Some NHPs demonstrated contamination levels above preferred daily endpoints for mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic or aluminum. NHPs manufactured in China generally had higher levels of mercury and aluminum.ConclusionsExposure to toxic elements is occurring regularly as a result of some contaminated NHPs. Best practices for quality control–developed and implemented by the NHP industry with government oversight–is recommended to guard the safety of unsuspecting consumers.

Speciation and bioavailability of lead in complementary medicines

“…Whereas the essential metal(loid)s such as Fe, Zn and Cu were higher in herbal medicines than in their ayurvedic counterparts. These results are similar to those found by many other studies including Genuis et al (2012) and Saper et al (2008) who attributed this difference to the introduction of heavy metal(loid)s as a therapeutic agent in ayurvedic medicines. In ayurvedic medicines non-essential metal(loid)s tend to be added purposefully as therapeutic ingredients; in herbal medicines the essential metal(loid)s are added for nutritional value (Gogtay et al, 2002;Satpute, 2003).…”

“…While the herbal medicines are dominated by functional groups originating from organic matter (e.g., carboxylic, phenolic, carbonyl, amino, quinone, ketones and alcoholic), the ayurvedic medicines are dominated by functional groups originating from mineral matter (e.g., silanol, aluminol and siloxane). This confirms the origin of heavy metal(loid)s in these two groups of medicines (Liu et al, 2011;Genuis et al, 2012). These functional groups are effective in the binding of heavy metal(loid)s thereby influencing their bioavailability (Adriano, 2001).…”

Adverse Events Associated with Metal Contamination of Traditional Chinese Medicines in Korea: A Clinical Review

“…Rather, a system of self-regulation with adjunctive governmental regulatory oversight could be more effective to meet the goal of providing safe and effective products for public consumption. Transparent reporting of ingredient origin, country of manufacture, as well as contaminant test results would provide an environment of transparency that would allow both practitioners and patients to select the most appropriate therapies 32. Internal controls including batch-to-batch comparisons for consistency and purity as well as a system of accreditation for sources of botanical- or animal-based ingredients are just a few of several ideas to promote increased product quality.…”

Metals Content in Herbal Supplements

“…The extensive contamination can be explained by several critical control points that should be observed during the production process of the herbal drug (soil, air, place of cultivation, extraction processes) [15,[64][65][66], besides an international standardization of production should be implemented to ensure health to the final consumer.…”