The Boston Globe and several others report on researcher’s findings that many herbal pills and powders sold in Indian stores in the U.S. are dangerously high in heavy metals.

The scientists, first alerted to the danger by reports of patients suffering seizures after taking herbs, discovered that one in five of the imported products they bought in local shops had levels of heavy metals sometimes hundreds of times higher than the daily amount considered safe for oral consumption. The same products are sold nationwide.

The herbal pills, powders, and liquids are a cornerstone in the practice of Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient holistic system of health that originated in India and that emphasizes the mind-body connection. It relies on herbs and oils to treat illness and prevent disease. An estimated 80 percent of India’s 1 billion adults and children use the remedies as a routine part of health care.

The herbs are not regulated in India, and in this country, unlike prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines, the imported products can be sold without rigorous scientific testing, subject only to the same standards that apply to food.

I always chastise my mom for suggesting Ayurvedic remedies to my ailments and now I know that I was right to do so. Of course there will be cries of bias:

But users of the herbs in this country insist that the products are reliable and that safety concerns reflect bias by Western medical practitioners against treatments that started in the East.

The Boston study, published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, comes amid an unprecedented boom in the use of herbal remedies — along with other alternative medical practices — and a campaign to validate the safety and effectiveness of those pills and treatments by government and academic researchers.

In national surveys, 14 to 18 percent of US adults report regularly taking herbs and other dietary supplements to address everything from flatulence to hemorrhoids to incontinence.

The first thing that came to my mind was concern for former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. Maybe it was the vast consumption of heavy metals that that impaired him enough to turn down an opportunity to return to the NFL.

For those with institutional access, the full report can be read here.

Update: An earlier article on this topic by Francis Assisi of Indolink can be found here.