The Food and Drug Administration recently issued stringent new guidelines that require the testing of all herbal supplements. Compliance with this ruling will be phased in through 2010. The FDA does not regulate herbal supplements, since they are not considered to be drugs. However, in recent years, there have been some notable cases that linked severe illness and even death to some herbal supplements. In most instances, the herbs were not the culprits. The FDA and other independent researchers found that the manufacturers’ formulations were at fault.

In 2007, the Occupational Medicine Clinic at University of California Davis reported on the case of a woman who started taking kelp, fish oil and other supplements to relieve menopause symptoms. Over a two-year period, she suffered from fatigue, memory loss and severe alopecia. Since she was self medicating, her physicians were at a loss to find the cause of her symptoms.

At one point, she doubled her daily intake of the kelp supplement and stopped taking the others. Her hair loss increased. This decision allowed her physicians to isolate the potential cause. Lab testing revealed that she had toxic levels of arsenic in her blood and her urine. Her doctors recommended that she stop taking the kelp supplement. Normal hair growth resumed within two weeks.

UC Davis investigated potential problems with arsenic in kelp supplements. They purchased nine samples produced by different manufacturers, including three that the women had taken during the previous two-year period. Eight of the samples had traceable amounts of arsenic. Seven exceeded the acceptable levels set by the FDA for food products. None of the samples had indication on their labels that they contained arsenic.

Supplement Toxins

Kelp is not the only herbal supplement that has been found to contain unacceptable levels of toxins. In 2006, many users of the male enhancement supplement ExtenZe complained of unusual symptoms. Tests of the product found high levels of lead, which can trigger alopecia. Some homeopathic and Ayurvedic supplements have been reported to contain illegal amounts of arsenic, mercury, or lead.

You can recover from alopecia caused by certain supplements. Rescue your hair from their side effects. If you take herbal supplements and you have unexplained hair loss, read reports from the FDA and reputable sites like WebMD to find out if other consumers have complained of thinning hair and patchy bald spots.