The government won’t do anything about ayurveda’s heavy metal problem
India wants to go big with ayurveda exports. But it’s not willing to prove that the medicines are safe.
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Editor's note: The US doesn’t recognize ayurveda as medicine. You can buy ayurvedic products in the country, but they’re called “food supplements” and “nutraceuticals”. Last month, officials at the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy met with those from the US Food and Drug Administration. A key part of the agenda was formal recognition of ayurveda as a system of medicine. There were two main sticking points, say two officials present at the meeting, on condition of anonymity. One, the FDA wanted clinical proof of the efficacy of ayurveda. Two, it was worried about the toxic heavy metals found in ayurvedic products in India. Nearly 20% of all ayurvedic formulations contain heavy metals. According to ayurveda principles, minute quantities of arsenic, mercury, lead and cadmium can help treat some diseases. The Indian government has prescribed limits for heavy metals in ayurvedic medicines, based on guidelines laid down by the World Health Organization. Lead, for instance, can’t exceed 10 parts per million, and mercury can’t go beyond 1 ppm. But the FDA objects to the very presence of these metals. Also, ayurvedic …
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