Do Os-Cal calcium supplements contain lead?
Lead occurs naturally everywhere in our environment. All animal and plant tissues contain small amounts of lead, as does the soil from which plants and plant-derived foods are grown. Consequently, nearly everything that we ingest – including water, cereals, fruits, vegetables and dairy products – contains lead in some small amount. Many calcium supplements with the active ingredient calcium carbonate (the most concentrated form of calcium), including Os-Cal, are derived from sources where trace amounts of lead occur naturally. All of the raw materials that go into the Os-Cal product are assayed prior to manufacture to ensure that the trace levels of lead meet the permissible level established by the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), the body responsible for determining standards for strength and purity of drugs and supplements in the United States. The USP has set the lead tolerance level for calcium carbonate at 3 ppm (parts per million). By employing scrupulous quality-control proce
