Heavy Metals in Herbal Products Survey 2006

Traditional herbal products from China, India and the Middle East, for example Ayurvedic medicines, have been found to contain certain minerals that are now regarded as toxic in the West; but in the East these products are regarded as having valuable therapeutic properties. Previous studies, for example that carried out by Health Canada in 2005 have found exceptionally high levels of toxic metals in certain herbal products. As well as the deliberate use of mineral substances containing heavy metals, certain herbs can accumulate heavy metals from the soil.

The preamble to Commission Regulation 1881/2006 states that in view of the opinion expressed by the SCF and the conclusions of the related SCOOP tasks, it is appropriate to take measures to reduce the presence of lead, cadmium and mercury in food as much as possible. While there is no indication that the intake of these metals from 'normal' foods is excessive those regularly consuming herbal products could be exposed to excessive amounts if consuming a heavily contaminated product. The purpose of the survey was to sample a range of herbal products with the objective of determining the typical levels of heavy metals present and the incidence of gross contamination.

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