Chromium Picolinate Shows Carcinogenic Potential 27699

Chromium Picolinate Shows Carcinogenic Potential

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.--Chromium picolinate has been shown to mutateChinese hamster ovary cells, leading Diane Stearns, Ph.D., and her colleagues atNorthern Arizona University to conclude that the supplement may havecarcinogenic properties in humans. Based on the results from previous researchwith hamster ovary cells that demonstrated chromium picolinate causedchromosomal aberrations, Stearns sought to explore the role of Cr(III) in Cr(VI)-inducedcancers.

Cr(III) and Cr(VI) are the two naturally occurring forms of chromium innature. Cr(III) is found in plants, and subsequently used in supplements, whileCr(VI) tends to be found in industrial settings--making paints or pigments,leather tanning and steel production. When inhaled, Cr(VI) has been shown tocause lung cancer. "Turns out, once Cr(VI) gets into the body, it turnsinto Cr(III)," Stearns said. "It looks like Cr(III) is involved, atleast in part, at causing Cr(VI)-induced cancers."

The current study, which will be published in the Jan. 15 issue of MutationResearch (www.mutationresearch.com),involved adding doses of chromium picolinate to hamster ovary cells andrecording any mutations that occurred. The highest dose tested was 80 mcg/cm2,or .44 mg/mL. This amount, in terms of the mass applied to the surface area ofthe dish, was dosed as a particulate and is equal to 1 mM chromium if it wereall soluble, according to Stearns.

These doses caused mutations in the hamster ovary cells within a 48-hourperiod. However, because placing cells in a laboratory setting causes mutationsin itself, researchers looked for large amounts of mutation. "We saw about58 times more mutations with our doses of chromium picolinate than we did withuntreated cells," Stearns said. "This is 58 mutations per millioncells. You don't need that many mutations to get cancer. You need one at theright time and the right place."

Whether the in vitro findings hold true in humans is still unclear, accordingto industry suppliers. "In a cell culture with any mineral, if you go highenough in a dose--over a few thousand times a dose--you're going to seedamage," said James Komorowski, director of technical services at Nutrition21, a manufacturer of chromium picolinate. "But you can't say the samething would happen in a living organism where they digest the mineral andmetabolize it."

Stearns responded to industry concerns that "the thing that consumersare concerned with and what the industry likes to point out is that the doses weused are higher than doses people would get in a pill. And that's absolutelytrue. But for this type of test, that's not the point of the test. We arelooking at the potential, at a chemical level, if it is possible that [chromiumpicolinate] is a mutagen, and the answer is yes." Stearns continued,explaining that demonstrating a compound is mutagenic is not the same thing asshowing it can cause cancer--that can only be demonstrated through animal orhuman studies. "People have developed these experiments to say that we knowthat things which mutate DNA tend to cause cancer in humans," she said.

According to Komorowski, all the in vivo studies that have been conductedhave demonstrated that chromium picolinate is completely safe as a supplement.Komorowski specifically mentioned a six-month in vivo study using rats thattested more than 3,000 times the recommended dose of chromium picolinate."What they found over six months is that the chromium levels in the tissueswent up over time, but they found absolutely no damage."