OA01.02. Literary Study on Heavy Metal Poisoning and Ayurveda with Special Reference to Naga Bhasma (Calcined Lead)

Bhasmas are unique Ayurvedic metallic preparations with herbal juices/fruits widely used for treatment of a variety of chronic ailments. The bhasmas are products of classical alchemy, organo-metallic compounds of certain metals and gems in a very fine powdered form, mostly oxides, made in elaborate calcination processes perfected several centuries ago. Recent articles pertaining the alarming level of heavy metals, especially Pb, Hg, and As in Ayurvedic formulations have created a lot of controversy regarding the safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic formulations. It has been reported that lead, mercury, and arsenic have been detected in a substantial proportion of Indian-manufactured traditional Ayurvedic medicines. An attempt was made to study heavy metal poisoning with special reference to current research on toxicity of Naga bhasma. This study clearly shows that Naga bhasma is not just lead, it's a compound form predominantly crystalline i.e. mixture of PbO Pb3O4. XRD data revealed OH and (CO3) 2 group which contain some other essential elements in minute quantity and didn’t have any toxic effect at LD50 which was 160 times higher to that of Therapeutic Equivalent Dose (TED) (12.5 mg/kg) in acute toxicity study.