> Of these, 11 pills contained lead levels greater than the detection limit
> and 1 pill contained 129,000 μg/g of lead (about 13% lead by weight),
> strongly suggesting that the pills were the source of the lead toxicity.
13% of the pill by weight, yikes!
> Four additional pills contained 7,900—33,000 μg/g of mercury.
Hazy recollections ahead. Lead, arsenic and mercury are explicit ingredients in ashes (bhasmam) form. Their claimed material properties are they are non toxic and reach the sick tissues faster than anything else. Concerns about heavy metal poisoning are raised in India when the west reports them about exported medicines. The modern medicine body IMA also complains. But even recently we got an arsenic based homeo medicine for covid.
I disagree adulterated turmeric being the lead source.