National Toxicology Program

Medicinal herbs are among our oldest medicines, and their increasing use in recent years is evidence of a public interest in alternatives to conventional medicine. Approximately one third of the U.S. population is believed to use some form of alternative medicine, including herbal remedies. The use of herbal medicines and other dietary supplements has increased substantially since passage of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Although approximately 1,500 botanicals are sold as dietary supplements or ethnic traditional medicines, herbal formulations are not subjected to FDA pre-market approval to ensure their safety or efficacy.

The NTP is planning or conducting research on several medicinal herbs and compounds found in herbs that focus on carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and toxic effects associated with acute exposures to high doses and, with chronic exposures to low doses.