One-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic. All metal-containing products exceeded 1 or more standards for acceptable daily intake of toxic metals. Among the metal-containing products, 95% were sold by US Web sites and 75% claimed Good Manufacturing Practices. 007) and higher median concentrations of lead (11.5 microg/g vs 7.0 microg/g P =. Rasa shastra compared with non-rasa shastra medicines had a greater prevalence of metals (40.6% vs 17.1% P =. The prevalence of metal-containing products was 20.7% (95% confidence interval, 15.2%-27.1%). One hundred ninety-three of the 230 requested medicines were received and analyzed. Prevalence of medicines with detectable toxic metals in the entire sample and stratified by country of manufacture and rasa shastra status.

Metal concentrations were measured using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

Country of manufacturer/Web site supplier, rasa shastra status, and claims of Good Manufacturing Practices were recorded. From 673 identified products, 230 Ayurvedic medicines were randomly selected for purchase in August-October 2005. To determine the prevalence of Ayurvedic medicines available via the Internet containing detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic and to compare the prevalence of toxic metals in US- vs Indian-manufactured medicines and between rasa shastra and non-rasa shastra medicines.Ī search using 5 Internet search engines and the search terms Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine identified 25 Web sites offering traditional Ayurvedic herbs, formulas, or ingredients commonly used in Ayurveda, indicated for oral use, and available for sale. Whether toxic metals are present in both US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines is unknown. Metals may be present due to the practice of rasa shastra (combining herbs with metals, minerals, and gems). Lead, mercury, and arsenic have been detected in a substantial proportion of Indian-manufactured traditional Ayurvedic medicines.

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