Elysium BASIS Adulterated Toxic Toluene Paint Thinner Testing

Elysium Health’s Basis Supplement Found Contaminated with Toluene, an Ingredient in Industrial Paint Thinners

We receive dozens of emails a day, but in the first week of October 2017 we noticed a unique message about helping spread the word of an adulterated product in order to protect the integrity of the supplement industry. As they stated and called us one of the leaders in the dietary supplement space, we felt obligated to look over everything sent to us as well as doing some independent research analysis.

Here's what we found out the currently on-going “Paint Thinner Solvent Found In Anti-Aging Supplement” situation unfolding:

Elysium Health produces a popular nutritional supplement called BASIS and has recently been found and tested by independent third parties for more than a trace amount of toluene contamination, a toxic industrial solvent found in paint thinners and nail polish.

To make matters worse, Elysium Health is apparently refusing to disclose the supplier of its ingredients while also having packaging that makes no mention of the fact that it contains the highly-undesirable ingredient in toluene. This means consumers of the BASIS product are unknowingly aware they are ingesting it which can be linked to many side effects.

Meanwhile, Elysium Health has not yet filed a New Dietary Ingredient Notification with the FDA. The FDA, which regulates the supplement industry in America, does not have the manpower to regulate every supplement in the industry, which is why they depend on self-regulation among manufacturers.

ChromaDex Has Issued a Citizen’s Petition to the FDA

Fellow nutritional supplement manufacturer ChromaDex has filed a Citizen’s Petition to the FDA. That petition requests the FDA to investigate and take appropriate remedial action against Elysium Health.

ChromaDex is the only supplier of nicotinamide riboside chloride, better known as Niagen, in the United States with Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status from the FDA sold under a New Dietary Ingredient Notification.

In the past, ChromaDex supplied Elysium Health with Niagen for use in its Basis supplement. Elysium Health, however, eventually switched to a new Niagen supplier. Soon after they switched to the new supplier, news about the toluene contamination reached the industry.

In a statement, ChromaDex expressed disappointment that Elysium Health put corporate greed ahead of public health and safety:

“It is disappointing that Elysium Health’s executives and certain paid scientific advisors apparently put profits before the safety of consumers by endorsing and selling BASIS. This product now contains an ingredient from a new unidentified supplier that does not have a New Dietary Ingredient Notification (NDIN) filing with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that is not generally recognized as safe (GRAS). When tested, Elysium's BASIS product that now includes an ingredient from an unidentified source, was found to have an elevated presence of toluene, a toxic industrial solvent found in paint thinners and nail polish.”

ChromaDex concluded their statement saying,

“Putting corporate greed ahead of public health and safety is shameful, and we are confident the FDA will take prompt remedial action to protect the public from potential harm.”

What is Toluene?

Toluene, or toluol, is a colorless, water-insoluble liquid. You’ve probably never heard of it before – but you’ve almost certainly smelled it. Toluene gives paint thinners and nail polish removers their distinctive smell.

In addition to being used as a solvent in paint thinner and nail polish remover, toluene is also used in model airplane glue or as industrial feedstock.

Medical studies have shown that toluene can cause neurological damage when inhaled – say, when people inhale paint or glue vapors (it’s also used as a recreational substance for precisely this reason).

Ultimately, Elysium Health has not yet disclosed the Niagen supplier that provided them with the tainted formula. Stay tuned for more information about this toluene contamination story as it unfolds.

What To Do Next?

We will be covering this story over the next weeks and months to come. If anyone would like to see ChromaDex's Citizen Petition, Official FDA Filing Statement or the Niagen company facts documents please leave a comment and we will get back to you with this information.

We hope the information is accurate above and do not want to be involved with anything misleading or untruthful. The tests seem to be conducted in proper fashion and reveal the findings put forth by ChromaDex and company.