JOIN USSaper was interacting with students of Ayurveda colleges in the City on Tuesday, for collaborative and integrated research to promote Ayurveda.
A guest of City-based National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India (NRCLPI), St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Dr Saper had undertaken studies between 2004 and 2008 and found metal contents in about 20 percent of Ayurvedic products sold in the US. "There is a history of allopathic medicines using metals to cure diseases through their toxicity. However, Ayurveda doesn’t have evidence based data in the preparation of the medicines,” he said.
Dr Saper's team bought 70 Ayurveda medicines available in Boston and manufactured by 11 Indian companies and found that one third of the medicines had high lead, mercury and arsenic contents. The follow-up of this study, in which NRCLPI was also a partner, appeared in the Journal of American Medical Association in 2008. As many as 193 samples from both India and US-based manufacturers were analysed. As much as 20 percent of the samples had lead and arsenic content. Even products made purely from herbal ingredients were contaminated.
“At present, about 85-90 cases of lead toxicity associated with Ayurveda products have been reported in the US," he said. However, Dr Saper cautioned that the conclusion should not generalise Ayurvedic medicines being sub-standard or toxic.
The government should formulate clear guidelines on permissible limits of metal contents, make the manufacturers take their medicines to an independent government-approved laboratory and put an
approval seal.