The FDA has released the results of recent tests which indicate that almost all vitamins produced for consumption by women and children contain trace amounts of lead.
Although the FDA is not taking a position on whether the levels of lead in these vitamins poses a health hazard, leaders on the issue in public policy have consistently told consumers that there is "no known safe level of lead exposure," particularly when the CPSC has ordering mass recalls of children's jewelry in recent years.
Below are shortlists of the children's vitamins containing the highest and lowest amounts of lead. We report this with particular personal frustration as one of the brands which the FDA targeted as causing among the highest exposure levels, Nature's Plus Animal Parade tablets, is the brand of children's multivitamins our vegetarian daughter Z has been taking twice a day for more than two years.
Highest Lead Exposure Levels (Ages 0-6)
- Nature's Plus Animal Parade Shake (Powder)
- Superior Multi Age (Powder)
- Nutraceutical Pedia Power (Tablet/Capsule)
- Physio Kids Multilogics Chewable (Tablet/Capsule)
- Ola Loa Kids (Powder)
- Nature's Plus Animal Parade (Tablet/Capsule)
- Vita-Big-Kids (Tablet/Capsule)
- Wonder Laboratories Formula Nineteen (Tablet/Capsule)
- Clinicians Choice Chewable Daily Multivitamins (Tablet/Capsule)
- Dynamic Health Multi for Children (Liquid)
These have no lead, according to FDA tests:- Natrol Liquid Kids Companion (Liquid)
- NF Formulas Liquid Pediatric (Liquid)
- Twinlab Infant Care (Liquid)
- Windmill Bite-A-Mins (Tablet/Capsule)
- Kids Liquid Dolphin Pals (Liquid)
- My First Flintstones (Tablet/Capsule)
- Natural Wealth Children's Chewable Multivitamins Plus Extra C (Tablet/Capsule)
- Uno Diario Ninos (Tablet/Capsule)
- Flintstones Plus Immunity Support (Tablet/Capsule)
- Natural Wealth Children's Chewable Multivitamins (Tablet/Capsule)
22 comments:
awesome. :(
Glad I avoided all that mercury in fish while pregnant... too bad I was taking vitamins. Is anything safe these days?
I am shocked and horrified. Around here we take Shaklee vitamins and I wonder where they stand. Why only the women's and children's and not men's?
Check out Dr. Sears vitamins - great stuff!
You have GOT to be kidding me. Of course Spring Valley Prenatal is the brand I have been taking for 3+ years. Lovely. How do I find a prenatal brand that does not contain any amt of lead?
Blech!!!!
Our son has been taking Nature's Plus animal vitamins (multivitamin in the morning, calcium at night) for the past 6 months and I just bought a new bottle. I had chosen that company b/c their independent quality testing for vitamin content is a high standard and b/c they don't have artificial dyes/flavors/tons of extra sugar.
I love seeing that my prenatal vitamin that i've been taking for this pregnancy is also included in this list - way to make a pregnant women worry she's inadvertently harming her baby, as if worrying about avoiding other environmental contaminants and BPA weren't enough.
I want to know how the lead got there in the first place!
Thanks for passing on the information. How frustrating is that?!?
My dauther also takes the Nature's Plus Animal Parade tablets. I bought them at the health food store so I thought we were safe. I'm curious - are you going to stop giving them to Z?
We use Dr. Sears Little Champions, and they're great! Too bad my prenatal is on the list. What are we supposed to do?
Crazy! Our kids take Rainbow Light Nutristars, and I didn't see them on your list. I have almost always taken Rainbow Light vitamins when I feel the need, but I am not totally convinced on the need for vitamins. We don't take them regularly.
@Julia: Great question. We haven't stopped yet - we need a substitute. We have some new organic vitamins on the way for her to check out, and will see where they fall on this list. (Can't remember the brand at the moment.) We don't like the idea of exposing her to lead, but we also don't like the thought of failing her nutritionally, particularly while raising her in a vegetarian home. For us, vitamins are an important part of that.
@Jennifer: Agreed, when it comes to adults. Our biggest concern is B vitamins, although Z probably gets more of them than most kids, even meat-eaters, because she is a good veggie eater!
But most people are not aware of how different the available nutrients in a vitamin and what our bodies actually uptake and use can be so different. Adults do far better to make sure they are eating balanced diets than rely on a pill to supplement poor eating.
@Peggy: I think the focus was on women and children because they are considered the most vulnerable populations to lead exposure - children because of the effect of small amounts on them and the developmental issues, and non-pregnant women because they may in fact be in early stages of pregnancy while still taking standard women's vitamins.
Pardon my french, but this is just f&*(ing ridiculous! I'm so mad I don't even know what to say. Argh.
Eugh, this makes me so mad I could spit. And if it's in multivitamins, it's sure to be in individual supplements as well. I know some of those numbers look small, but every day, day after day, they add up. I wish there would be a bigger news story about THIS, as if lunch boxes weren't bad enough.
This sucks, but thanks so much for putting it out there.
My friend was concerned about this issue and wrote to Kirkman vitamin company and here is there letter response (I am printing it in full):
Dear Kirkman Customer:
The FDA lead report in supplements will be grossly misunderstood by many individuals. You have to read it very carefully to understand what the FDA is actually reporting. Here is a synopsis of what the report found.
First of all, the report is very positive and shows that the nutritional industry is doing a great job in controlling lead levels in products. The FDA defined acceptable lead exposures for high risk populations as 6 mcg of lead per day. All of the products tested passed that standard. Even the products with the highest lead levels passed the standard.
Only two of the tested products were above 1 mcg per day.
All of the rest of the products tested were a fraction of a microgram. Kirkman products tested varied from 0.272 mcg. down to 0.174 mcg. These are all very safe levels.
All raw materials used in making vitamins contain some traces of lead, usually 5-10 parts per million. There are no raw materials that test at zero. This includes vitamins, minerals, and excipients. All supplement companies have access to the same materials. Kirkman always chooses raw materials having the highest overall purity which includes not only a lead parameter, but also other heavy metals, PCB’s, pesticides, bacteria counts, etc.
Most reputable companies have the same philosophy, so one would have expected all of the products to show similar results which they did.
To give you an idea of how small a lead level the FDA was measuring, take the Kirkman Children’s chewable product which measured at 0.246 mcg. per daily exposure. That is the equivalent of containing 0.0000246% lead per tablet. We are dealing with insignificant numbers here.
Consumers should accept this report as being very positive with all results far exceeding the FDA’s acceptable limits. We all wish that all the products test zero for lead and other contaminants but that is impossible. Our customers need to understand and accept this, though I know this is tough when you have a child afflicted with a spectrum disorder.
The higher the potency of products, the higher one would expect lead levels to be just because of the higher levels of raw materials. That is why the levels in supplements for teens and prenatal supplements had higher levels than children’s products. That was to be expected. That is also why Kirkman’s Everyday tested lower than our other products---it has very low potencies and no excipients.
The bottom line is that there is nothing negative about this report.
Kirkman Technical
Department/Larry Newman
That letter from Kirkmans is a bit snippy, don't you think?
Thanks so much for this great information. I had no idea! After looking over the FDA list of vitamins and seeing my prenatal there, I quickly emailed the company for an explanation. I've posted their response here:
http://www.uberparents.com/lead-in-my-vitamins/
FYI (I'll spare you how hard it was to get the info) "CVS Prenatal Vitamins with Mineral for Pregnant & Nursing Women Prod. No. 3703" are made by "Nature's Bounty," which ranks eighth up from the bottom of the FDA study on hidden lead list. CVS Pharmacy also sells "Stuart Prenatal," which is ninth of the "least bad."
I tried Whole Foods Market, hoping a "boutique" grocery would carry "the best," but all of the brands, even organic varieties, I found at my local store were actually higher on the FDA's list. (Note: WFMs carry different products per store.)
Am I supposed to feel comforted that my less expensive generics are "only" 68th out of 75 vitamins for pregnant and breast feeding women tested? I vehemently refuse to be told by a complacent industry and, yes, an all too often complacent fellow public, that the benefits of all the other vitamins and minerals in that crucial pill for pregnant and nursing mothers and our infants and small children out weigh the dangers of an estimated lead exposure of 0.324 µg Pb/day. I will not swallow that.
You're kidding. My kids have been taking one of the high lead content vitamins for years. Crap.
Is anything safe these days?
I'm wondering about the Nature's Plus Animal Parade VITAMIN C? It doesn't specify whether it's just the multivitamin or all NP products. And for anyone looking for a good chewable mv, for children or adults, my naturopath doctor recommends (and my daughter takes these) Perque Lifeguard Chewables. The website is http://www.perque.com/default.asp
That's why we only use Shaklee supplements. They test all raw materials and finished batches. I never ever worry about contaminants in them! And to think I used to give my kids "good" vitamins like Animal Parade!
Great post! Very useful information to share with the readers that's cool.Our kids take Rainbow Light Nutristars, and I didn't see them on your list. Thanks.
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