State Settles With Supplement Makers

State Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren settled with makers of calcium supplements and antacids to reduce their lead content--an agreement that consumer advocates called inadequate and unsafe. Lungren said eight manufacturers, including the makers of Rolaids, DI-GEL and Os-Cal, had agreed for the first time to limits on lead, a substance that has been linked to birth defects. But the Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed the first suit challenging lead levels in calcium supplements, said the settlement allows levels far above those permitted by the state’s anti-toxics law. The law requires warnings on products that expose consumers to more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per day. A microgram is a millionth of a gram. The limit does not apply to foods, however. The settlement was reached on a premise that dietary supplements are foods. The settlement requires calcium supplements to reduce their lead content to between four and six micrograms, depending on their dosage, by July 1. The limits would be reduced to 1.5 to 2.25 micrograms on April 1, 1999. The companies in the settlement are Warner-Lambert, Smithkline Beecham, American Home Products, Schering-Plough, Pharmavite, General Nutrition, Perrigo and Twin Laboratories.