Ancient,but how safe?

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: Kevin Casey, the chief of Banyan Botanicals, a maker of ayurvedic products in Ashland, Ore, sells three items — mahasudarshan, shilajit and kanchanar guggulu — that are on Dr Saper’s list of contaminated supplements. After the study came out, Casey said, some of his 15,000 clients, who include practitioners and consumers, called. He said he alleviated their fears after he explained that his products are sent to outside laboratories, and they meet “the standards that we adhere to.”

He added that sales had not suffered since the study, which has “created a dialogue — people are talking about it and understanding that there is the presence of heavy metals, but it doesn’t mean it’s toxic or dangerous.”

Dr Saper disagreed. Even with relatively low levels of lead in the bloodstream, he said, “a person can be relatively asymptomatic but the lead can still impact their IQ. It can reduce their cognitive function and increase blood pressure.”

Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association, a trade group, said that eliminating every trace of arsenic, mercury or lead from products was not a reasonable goal. “If it was, we’d have to find an entirely new food supply,” he said.

Many Americans get their first taste of ayurveda at spas. A 2006 survey from the International Spa Association reported that about 31% of United States spas offer ayurvedic medicine, usually limited to hot oil massages and facials. But some spas with ayurvedic practitioners also recommend herbal supplements to some clients to boost their immune systems and alleviate everything from depression to acne.

Dawne Burrowes, the director of the Ayurvedic Rejuvenation and Wellness Center, said she bought supplements from manufacturers such as Banyan Botanicals, which has been in business for 12 years. The Chopra Center buys some goods from Bazaar of India, an importer of herbal and ayurvedic products in Berkeley, Calif., and the source of 17 products that Dr. Saper found contained lead, mercury or arsenic.

Dr David Simon, the medical director of the Chopra Center for Well-Being, said he was satisfied that Bazaar of India sends its products to an independent laboratory and that the herbs they recommend are free from toxic levels of heavy metals.