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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20848256-1702,00.html
Warning over supplement
November 30, 2006
A SUPPLEMENT widely taken by bodybuilders, athletes and diabetics turns into a carcinogen in the body, Australian scientists have discovered.
The researchers say they are concerned some people could be exposing themselves to toxic levels of chromium-6, made famous in the film Erin Brockovich.
But they have yet to establish the full extent of the risk because they don't know what proportion is transformed.
Researchers at Sydney's Garvan Institute studied the naturally-occurring chromium-3, a supposedly harmless substance found in small quantities in Vegemite, beer and other yeast products.
It is often taken as a nutritional supplement by diabetics, to improve insulin action, and in much larger quantities by body builders to help lose weight.
A research team led by Lindsay Wu is the first to observe that chromium-3 transforms into cancer-causing chromium-6 in human fat cells.
The substance was at the centre of the film based on the real story of a community made sick by water contaminated by chromium-6.
The breakthrough - made using the same technology that helped prove Phar Lap was poisoned with arsenic - could have serious implications, Mr Wu said.
"The observation of intracellular oxidation of Cr-3 ... and Cr-6 raises strong concerns regarding the safety of widely consumed Cr-3 dietary supplements," an abstract of the findings said.
He said: "We don't know what proportion of it is turned into chromium-6 yet ... and we don't have clinical data to recommend (that people don't take the supplements).
"But we're fairly concerned ... mainly for bodybuilders because they take huge doses of it."
Most people consume about 25mcg of chromium-3 a day - a tiny but vital amount - but bodybuilders take up to 400mcg.
Most would have started taken the supplements in the early 1990s, but any cancer would take 20 to 30 years to develop, Mr Wu said.
Professor Chris Winder, a toxicology expert at the University of NSW, said it was possible chromium-3 could reduce to chromium-6 in the body but the process would be slow and unlikely to be hazardous.
The doses would also need to be extremely large, possibly larger than taken those by bodybuilders, but users should exercise caution before further research was complete, Prof Winder said.
Warning over supplement
November 30, 2006
A SUPPLEMENT widely taken by bodybuilders, athletes and diabetics turns into a carcinogen in the body, Australian scientists have discovered.
The researchers say they are concerned some people could be exposing themselves to toxic levels of chromium-6, made famous in the film Erin Brockovich.
But they have yet to establish the full extent of the risk because they don't know what proportion is transformed.
Researchers at Sydney's Garvan Institute studied the naturally-occurring chromium-3, a supposedly harmless substance found in small quantities in Vegemite, beer and other yeast products.
It is often taken as a nutritional supplement by diabetics, to improve insulin action, and in much larger quantities by body builders to help lose weight.
A research team led by Lindsay Wu is the first to observe that chromium-3 transforms into cancer-causing chromium-6 in human fat cells.
The substance was at the centre of the film based on the real story of a community made sick by water contaminated by chromium-6.
The breakthrough - made using the same technology that helped prove Phar Lap was poisoned with arsenic - could have serious implications, Mr Wu said.
"The observation of intracellular oxidation of Cr-3 ... and Cr-6 raises strong concerns regarding the safety of widely consumed Cr-3 dietary supplements," an abstract of the findings said.
He said: "We don't know what proportion of it is turned into chromium-6 yet ... and we don't have clinical data to recommend (that people don't take the supplements).
"But we're fairly concerned ... mainly for bodybuilders because they take huge doses of it."
Most people consume about 25mcg of chromium-3 a day - a tiny but vital amount - but bodybuilders take up to 400mcg.
Most would have started taken the supplements in the early 1990s, but any cancer would take 20 to 30 years to develop, Mr Wu said.
Professor Chris Winder, a toxicology expert at the University of NSW, said it was possible chromium-3 could reduce to chromium-6 in the body but the process would be slow and unlikely to be hazardous.
The doses would also need to be extremely large, possibly larger than taken those by bodybuilders, but users should exercise caution before further research was complete, Prof Winder said.