The Ministry of Health would like to draw the attention of the public to two Indian proprietary medicines, Gold Baspam and Pavala Parpam which were found to contain arsenic, lead and mercury exceeding the legal permissible limits of 5ppm, 20ppm and 0.5ppm respectively. Mercury Prolonged consumption of excessive amounts of lead and mercury can lead to poisoning and complications such as abdominal pain, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea and in serious cases, fatal convulsions. Arsenic, on the other hand, is a cumulative poison which cumulates in the bones, skin, nails and hair.
Arsenic poisoning can lead to cancer of the lung and skin.
The public is advised not to purchase these products until new consignments have been tested and found satisfactory. Those who have the affected products are advised to either destroy or surrender them to the Ministry of Health's Pharmaceutical Inspectorate at 2 Jalan Bukit Merah, Singapore 169547 for disposal. It is an offence under the Medicines Act to sell Indian proprietary medicines containing toxic heavy metals namely arsenic, copper, lead and mercury beyond the legal permissible limits. For further information, please call the Pharmaceutical Department at telephone No. 3255412.