High Arsenic Levels Found In Herbal Kelp Supplements

Science Daily ^ | 4-7-2007 | U of C - Davis

[blam]

Source: University of California, Davis - Health System
Date: April 7, 2007

High Arsenic Levels Found In Herbal Kelp Supplements

Science Daily — A study of herbal kelp supplements led by UC Davis public health expert Marc Schenker concludes that its medicinal use may cause inadvertent arsenic poisoning and health dangers for consumers, especially when overused. Schenker and two researchers evaluated nine over-the-counter herbal kelp products and found higher than acceptable arsenic levels in eight of them.

The new study, published in the April issue of Environmental Health Perspectives was prompted by the case of a 54-year-old woman who was seen at the UC Davis Occupational Medicine Clinic following a two-year history of worsening alopecia (hair loss), fatigue and memory loss.

The woman's symptoms had begun with minor memory loss and fatigue. Her primary care physician initially found nothing wrong with the woman and thought the symptoms were related to menopause.

With no specific diagnosis or treatment recommendations, the patient started taking a variety of herbal therapies, including a kelp supplement, fish oil, ginkgo biloba and grape seed extract. The kelp supplement was the only herbal therapy she took regularly throughout the course of her illness.

Over a period of several months the woman's short- and long-term memory became so impaired that she could no longer remember her home address. She also reported having a rash, nausea and vomiting, which made it very difficult to work and forced her to leave a full-time job. The woman actually increased her dosage of kelp from two to four pills a day after her doctors still could not find a clear diagnosis.

Subsequent laboratory tests finally revealed arsenic in the patient's blood and urine. At her physician's suggestion, the patient discontinued the kelp supplement. Within weeks, her symptoms disappeared, and within several months arsenic was no longer detected in her urine and its levels had dropped significantly in her blood. She later was referred to the UC Davis Occupational Medicine Clinic as a follow-up to her primary care.

"It's unfortunate that a therapy that's advertised as contributing to 'vital living and well-being' would contain potentially unsafe levels of arsenic," said Schenker, who is a professor of Public Health Sciences and a leading authority on occupational and environmental diseases and respiratory illness. "Concentrations of materials contained in herbal supplements, including both the expected benefits and potential side effects, should be studied, standardized, monitored and accurately labeled."

To assess the concentration of arsenic present in commercially available kelp supplements, the UC Davis investigators purchased nine over-the-counter kelp samples from local health food stores. Included were samples from three different batches of the product consumed by the patient.

The researchers sent the samples to the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory in Davis, which operates in partnership with UC Davis, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and others to provide specialized testing that helps protect both human and animal health. Investigators found detectable levels of arsenic in eight of the nine kelp supplements by using a hydride vapor generation method with an inductively coupled argon plasma spectrometer. Seven of the supplements exceeded the tolerance levels for food products set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Part of the problem," said Schenker, "is that the FDA has limited control over dietary supplements. It can't scrutinize products like herbal kelp before they enter the market, so it has to rely on adverse reports to determine product safety."

He noted that none of the kelp products in the study had labels indicating the presence of arsenic, nor were there any warnings about the potential dangers of ingesting large quantities of the supplement.

Arsenic is a heavy metal that occurs naturally in the environment and as a by-product of some agricultural and industrial activities. Due to high arsenic concentrations in algae and marine micro-organisms, seafood is the highest dietary source of arsenic for consumers. While long-term human exposure to arsenic from food sources such as fish does occur, it is usually significantly lower than anything approaching toxic levels. How-ever, dietary supplements, which are largely unregulated, have raised health concerns.

There have been a number of published studies highlighting cases in which the uses of homeopathic remedies to relieve everything from asthma to rheumatoid arthritis have caused arsenic poisoning. Schenker's findings offer a cautionary tale for consumers who use herbal treatments and dietary supplements. The kelp samples analyzed in the study had consistently elevated levels of arsenic, but they were considerably lower than previously documented concentrations found in other herbal remedies.

"What concerns me," said Schenker, "is that chronic exposure to contaminated herbal supplements, even those with moderately elevated concentrations of arsenic, can still be toxic. Consumers won't find such label information on these products, so they could end up like that woman in our study who consumed dangerously high amounts of a toxic substance without realizing it."

The complete article -- entitled "A Case of Potential Arsenic Toxicity Secondary to Herbal Kelp Supplement," is co-authored by Eric Amster, from the UC Davis School of Medicine, and Asheesh Tiwary, from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of California, Davis - Health System.

[randog]

At least is was “natural” arsenic.

[ModelBreaker]

"Part of the problem," said Schenker, "is that the FDA has limited control over dietary supplements. It can't scrutinize products like herbal kelp before they enter the market, so it has to rely on adverse reports to determine product safety."

If the FDA had it's way, there would be NO dietary supplements on the market--that's the socialists way. The tradeoff for freedom from the FDA's jackboot is occasional problems like this. One thing articles like this never note is that there are hundreds of deaths annually due to ingestion of FDA regulated prescription medication and almost none due to dietary supplements, nothwithstanding that there are sometimes real problems (I'm assuming the article is accurate) like the one noted in the article.

[El Sordo]

Hmmm...

[Tax-chick]

Ooops. I guess I’ll find another source for iodine.

[doc1019]

First I had to through away all my pet food, now my herbal kelp supplement … what are us ol’ folks suppose to eat … ‘-)

[pandoraou812]

ping

[bpjam]

Arsenic is completely natural. New Mexico has about 10 times the EPA allowable level in their water supply in a handful of areas. Most western states have high levels of arsenic in the water which we pay millions to remove.

[sweetiepiezer]

BTTT!!!!!!!!

[LaineyDee]

If the FDA had it's way, there would be NO dietary supplements on the market--that's the socialists way.

I agree. They've been trying this through various tactics for the past 30 years.....that I'm aware of. This smacks of "setup". Why did they not disclose the company or brands who distributed these harmful kelp supplements if they were so worried about the public at large? Seems to me they have an obligation to do that.........unless they're afraid they'll be exposed (once again) for using bad science.

[aimhigh]

I wish they had the guts to list the offending brands.

[omnivore]

You're absolutely right about the FDA.

Pretty clear that they're refusing to print the names of the bad brands of kelp as a sleazy tactic to try to make people afraid of all of them. The FDA are scum.

[TigersEye]

ping to that. You’re probably right on the money.

[LaineyDee]

The FDA “approved” amalgam for dentistry.......and then we find out we have to have it all yanked out of our mouths because of the long-term damage it does? Where WERE they during all that fiasco? I don’t trust anything they say anymore... It seems anyone can buy their stamp with the right amount of $$. *wink* *wink*

[TigersEye]

My dentist really got mad at me when I asked him about that. He's really good too and I have now been going to him nearly twenty years. But he didn't deny that there is mercury in amalgam. He simply said it might be worse to remove it than leave it alone.

But the FDA is a crock. They banned all L-Tryptophan because one asian company made a bad batch using the wrong base chemicals. They ban Chinese ephedra which is a good treatment for asthma because it contains ephedrine which can cause the heart to race and possibly harm you if you overuse it. How many things could that be said of? They're in the hip pocket of the AMA and pharmaceutical companies and that's about the whole story.

[LaineyDee]

I agree. I never paid attention to the FDA until they started persecuting a Dr. out of Houston several years ago. His "sin" was a natural formula.....made using his own resources and lab... which had an 85% cure rate for lung and brain tumors. They ransacked and destroyed his labs, arrested his patients (for illegal drugs - tho they weren't) and harrassed his staff countless times. He would always rebuild by the graces of some of his wealthier clients. Finally...he sued them successfully....yet the only way the FDA would agree to leave him alone totally, was for him to offer clients "conventional" treatments, as well as his own.

Cancer and AIDS are big $$. They don't like losing their cash cows.