Goldenseal, which grows in hardwood forests of Canada and the eastern United States, is sometimes advocated for digestive and hemorrhagic disorders, upper respiratory congestion, mucous membrane inflammation, skin and eye problems and cancer.Its constituent alkaloids berberine and hydrastine would also be studied.
Saw palmetto, the sixth largest-selling herbal dietary supplement in the United States, is used extensively to self-treat benign prostate hyperplasia -- an enlarged prostate. Controlled studies have not shown it to be effective for BPH and the Food and Drug Administration considers it mislabeled when sold for this purpose.
The Interagency Committee for Chemical Evaluation and Coordination's members include representatives of the National Cancer Institute, Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, FDA, the National Library of Medicine, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as NIEHS.
Comments on the chemicals recommended and data on them are requested by March 8 and should be sent to Dr. William Eastin, NIEHS/NTP, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709.
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Contact: Sandy Lange
Lange@niehs.nih.gov
919 541-0539
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
3-Feb-1998