Mercury has been determined in Ayurvedic dietary supplements (Trifala, Trifala Guggulu, Turmeric, Mahasudarshan, Yograj, Shatawari, Hingwastika, Shatavari, and Shilajit) by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and direct mercury analysis using the Hydra-C direct mercury analyzer (Teledyne Leeman Labs Hudson, NH, USA). Similar results were obtained from the two methods, but the direct mercury analysis method was much faster and safer and required no microwave digestion (unlike ICP-MS). Levels of mercury ranged from 0.002 to 56？μg/g in samples of dietary supplements. Standard reference materials Ephedra 3240 and tomato leaves that were from the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) and dogfish liver (DOLT3) that was from the Canadian Research Council were analyzed using Hydra-C method. Average mercury recoveries were 102% (RSD% 0.0018), 100% (RSD% 0.0009), and 101% (RSD% 0.0729), respectively. Hydra-C method Limit Of Quantitation was 0.5？ng. 1. Introduction Ayurveda is a traditional form of medicine that originated on the Indian subcontinent during the Vedic period and is still widely used by many [1]. These “medicines” can be divided into two broad disciplines: herbal only and rasa shastra, in which metals, including mercury, are added [2]. In a survey of Ayurvedic medicines in the Boston area, 20% were found to contain lead, mercury, and/or arsenic when analyzed by X-ray fluorescence [3]. The range of mercury found was 28–104000？μg/g [3]. Similar results were found in products obtained over the internet, in which 20% of all the products contained lead, mercury, and/or arsenic and 40.6% of the rasa shastra products contained mercury, ranging from 13 to 28？mg/g [4]. These are over four orders of magnitude greater than the FDA action level for mercury in fish, which is 0.001？mg/g or 1？μg/g [5]. However, uncontrollable matrix effects make X-ray fluorescence a nonquantitative technique. There are also metallic-herb preparations called bhasmas, which are used in the rasa shastra discipline [6]. Bhasma means “ash” and is a preparation made from precious metals and their salts [6]. One of the, Siddha Makaradhwaja, was found to contain mercury as HgS, with no traces of any other elements [6]. Another mercury-based bhasma, parad, contained ( ) [6]. Several other bhasmas that were not based on mercury still contained much more than , with one (Praval Pishti) containing , when analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry [6]. Other dietary supplements have been analyzed by ICP-MS for As, Pb, Hg, and Cd [7, 8], in which
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