Leiner to Lower Lead in Calcium Tablets

A public-interest group said Monday that the country’s largest maker of dietary calcium supplements, Carson-based Leiner Health Products Group, has agreed to reduce the amount of lead in the tablets by the start of February.

In hopes that the Food and Drug Administration will follow Leiner’s lead, the Natural Resources Defense Council and a broad-based coalition of medical and consumer groups have petitioned the FDA to set a national standard limiting lead in calcium supplements and antacids to 0.5 micrograms per daily dosage. Lead occurs naturally in the products.

But the National Osteoporosis Foundation said that while it was concerned about lead intake, it nevertheless encouraged people to continue taking calcium through their diets or, if necessary, by supplements. Calcium combats osteoporosis, a disorder in which bones become brittle and can fracture.

Gina Solomon, a senior National Resources Defense Council scientist, said calcium is needed as a dietary supplement, “but to take calcium does not mean consumers need to take lead in the process. Lead presents especially high risks to pregnant and nursing women, their unborn fetuses and young children.”

A Leiner spokesman said the firm was already working on virtually lead-free products and was close to introducing them when the NRDC sent notice of court action.

“We agreed to the settlement because we wanted to spend more time on bringing good products and new products to the marketplace and less time on nonproductive legal issues,” said Scott Rexinger, Leinier’s senior vice president of marketing.

The settlement also stipulates that Leiner’s legal fees be contributed to an NRDC education program that extols the benefits of calcium and the dangers of lead.

Leiner products include Your Life brand supplements, TUMS 500 and Children’s Mylanta Chewable.