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Picking an expensive name brand over a generic pill or going for laboratory-refined calcium over oyster shell (which historically has contained higher lead levels) won't guarantee a lead-free calcium supplement.
WHEN a report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association several weeks ago saying that eight popular brands of calcium supplements were found to contain lead, a number of you contacted us about whether you should re-think your supplement regimen. The answer is no. Even the primary author of the disturbing report, the University of Florida's Edward Ross, MD, says that "we don't want people to stop taking their calcium."
Not that anyone feels okay about ingesting lead. It's a toxic metal, which, taken in high enough doses over time, could damage organs and cause such problems as cardiovascular and kidney disease. (In children, the consequences of lead contamination can be particularly devastating, ranging from behavioral problems to intellectual impairment.) But the concentrations seen in calcium supplements by the Florida investigators are low enough that the benefits of the calcium "tremendously outweigh the risk" presented by the heavy metal, at least in the short term, Dr. Ross points out. We agree.
Indeed, as recently as 20 years ago, some supplements contained as much...