"Out of 247 traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) investigated, a proportion were contaminated with arsenic (5-15%), lead (approximately 5%), and mercury (approximately 65%). Some preparations exceeded the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for males and females for arsenic (4 and 5 products, respectively), lead (1 and 2 products), and mercury (5 and 7 products). These exceedances were as high as 2760-fold, which posed a potential danger to public health. As many users are known to self-prescribe, there is a substantial risk of poisoning from the consumption of these contaminated TCM." Cooper K, Noller B, Connell D, Yu J, Sadler R, Olszowy H, Golding G, Tinggi U, Moore MR, Myers S. J Toxicol Environ Health A. (October 2007)