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Testing Finds Lead in Vitamins, Other Problems
by Megan Rauscher, Reuters, Scientific American
January 23, 2007
http://sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=2F093E72FA038B855C80131EC3FBA75C
Among 21 multivitamin products for adults and children independently selected and tested by ConsumerLab.com, problems were found with more than half -- including unacceptably high levels of lead, and too much or too little of a particular ingredient.
Article Summary: Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, said one of the most serious problems was a women's multivitamin that contained 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily dose. This is more than 10 times the amount of lead allowed without a warning label in the state of California, the only state to regulate lead in supplements. Another "disturbing finding," Cooperman said, was a children's vitamin that contained 216 percent of its labeled amount of vitamin A -- an amount far in excess of the "upper tolerable intake level for kids under the age of 9. The report is available at http://www.consumerlab.com/results/multivit.asp.
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