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Ayurveda

Detection of toxic heavy metals in herbal plants

JR

Researchers at the National Institute of Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Research, in Punjab, India, report on a few local samples of certain herbs.

First, the details.

  • Levels of 4 heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) were measured.
  • Pesticide residue (organochlorine pesticides, organophosphorus pesticides, and pyrethroids) was analyzed in the 4 samples of single crude drugs.

And, the results.

  • Heavy metals and pesticide residue were found below detection limits in all the samples.

The bottom line?

The abstract is short on details. And, the results from Punjab differ from the results of studies from The Netherlands, Boston (here and here).

1/11/11 20:12 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

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