Where Did Srila Prabhupada’s Cadmium Come From?

1.0 Introduction

Dr. Morris (MURR) in 2002-05 found three of Srila Prabhupada’s hair samples cut in 1977 to have an average of 15.73 ppm cadmium, an extremely elevated amount, and in other pre-1977 hair samples, he found cadmium levels commensurate to normal societal levels.

Those not adhering to the principles of truth, those who stand to lose by the truth becoming known, those who are invested in the truth being hidden, will come up with an endless stream of objections and fault-finding of facts and evidence, as has been done in the matter of Srila Prabhupada’s forensically, scientifically proven homicidal poisoning with heavy metals in 1977. The ISKCON leaders and GBC-guru cartel desperately want to cover this truth with doubts, denials, and deception because it seriously threatens the continuity of their sham guru business and institutional corruptions. Accordingly, they have set forward various clever (but false, or baseless) arguments in an appearance of righteous denials of the truth. Some objections to the conclusive evidence of the monstrous crime of poisoning the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are listed below.

1.1 Was Srila Prabhupada’s Cadmium From The Hairclipper Oil?

After receiving Dr. Morris’ findings of 20 times normal arsenic in 1977 hair removed from the blades of Srila Prabhupada’s hairclippers, Balavanta (Wm. Ogle) thought maybe the Wahl hairclipper lubricating oil contained arsenic. In Feb. 1999 Balavanta called Exxon (USA), learning that all lubricating oils cannot have arsenic. Balavanta received a Material Safety Data Sheet on petroleum lubricating oils with its ingredients, which were absent any significant arsenic. A later test by the GBC itself in 1999 at Scientific Services, a health services department of the Queensland, Australia government, on a sample of the Wahl brand hairclipper oil was found to have NO significant arsenic.

The Wahl clipper oil was not specifically tested for cadmium, but it is obvious that if this oil was not the source of the lethal cadmium levels in Srila Prabhupada’s three hair samples. If, over the course of the last century, any commercial product, e.g., drinking water, food, jewelry, clothing, etc, had health-debilitating amounts of cadmium (or anything else), it would quickly become known from its effects on health. But still, in the cases where this has occurred, it was always only a tiny fraction of Srila Prabhupada’s hair cadmium, in “trace” amounts, not lethal levels. These cases, e.g., ceramic mugs, industrial pollution, etc, resulted in hair levels of far less than 1 ppm cadmium, compared to Srila Prabhupada’s 1977 average 15.73 ppm.

Also Srila Prabhupada’s hair Samples ND-2 and J had normal cadmium and arsenic, and they were exposed to the same clipper oil and massage oil, as was Srila Prabhupada’s system for many years, all along. If these oils were a source of cadmium, then extreme levels of cadmium would be present in ND-2 and J as well, but they are not. So any idea that clipper oil or massage oil could result in the lethal levels of cadmium found in Samples Q-2, A, and D are illogical and disproved by the results from Samples ND-2 and J.

Sample M was not from Srila Prabhupada and is not relevant herewith.

A simple Google search “Does hair clipper oil have any toxic ingredients?” produces this result:
“Not expected to be harmful to internal organs if absorbed through the skin. Ingestion: Not expected to be harmful if swallowed. Inhalation: Not expected to be harmful if inhaled. Contains a petroleum-based mineral oil.” The Material Safety Data Sheet (Chevron) for Wahl Clipper Oil is found at this link. No safety problems!

Also Srila Prabhupada’s hairclipper head was tested by Chemical Solutions Ltd in PA, USA (Feb. 8, 2008) for cadmium content and found to have 12 parts per Billion, which is infinitesimal, and cannot result in hair levels of a multiple of 1333 at 15.73 pp Million. Srila Prabhupada’s hair levels of cadmium did not come from clipper oil or the clippers themselves.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 87, 674, 680-1)

1.2 Was It The Mustard Oil (Massages, Cooking), Shampoo, Cosmetics?

Mustard seed oil was used to massage Srila Prabhupada daily, including his head, so was cadmium added to the massage oil? Recent analyses have found very tiny trace amounts of cadmium in some mustard seeds and oils. But this feeble hypothesis is crazy- Srila Prabhupada’s masseurs (and millions of others) would have absorbed cadmium through their hands and food as well, and become ill, but this never happened. So, mustard seed oil does not lead to cadmium poisoning.

Massage oils are excluded as an external cadmium/arsenic source.Selenium dandruff shampoos can result in high hair selenium values due to “external contamination.” Hair dye, creams, sprays, straighteners, and chemicals can cause external contamination and produce false positives in hair tests. These external chemicals can be adsorbed into the hair. Therefore the personal history and habits of a person should be learned to reasonably rule out the possibility of external hair contamination. Srila Prabhupada did not use these compounds, and further, none of them would contain such high amounts of cadmium, arsenic, or antimony as was found in his hair. The cadmium source was NOT EXOGENOUS, but endogenous, or internally assimilated from the blood. Also, external contamination cannot explain Srila Prabhupada’s “mystery” medical symptoms documented in various books.

In the GBC book Deception, p. 37, there are three quotes from a 2001 Hair Analysis Panel Discussion to try and establish that Srila Prabhupada’s ultra-high cadmium could have come from exogenous sources, namely air dust, shampoo, massage oil, or anything external. The problem of external sources contaminating hair and thus getting a false reading for what was inside the body is a real one which scientists face all the time. However, it does not apply to this situation because the cadmium levels were far higher than what any known external source of contamination could produce. That Srila Prabhupada’s 1977 hair had 250 X normal levels conclusively rules out any plausible external contamination. Also Dr. Morris examined the hair samples beforehand under a high-powered microscope and found no significant external contamination.

All these arguments, such as the cadmium in medicines, massage oils, shampoo, air, dust, smoke, pesticide-treated food, etc- are thus fatally faulty. Trace contaminations never result in 250 X normal.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 145, 345, 218, 835)

1.3 Was It From The Water Srila Prabhupada Drank?

The GBC book Not That I Am Poisoned proposes that Srila Prabhupada’s elevated arsenic levels came from the water he drank while staying in India, as there is an environmental health crisis due to machine-dug, deep-bore water wells made AFTER Srila Prabhupada’s 1977 passing away. But how could he drink water from wells that did not yet exist? Further, the GBC tested in 1998 the water sources from which he drank in 1977, in both Vrindaban and Mayapur, and they were found to have NORMAL arsenic levels. Thus, the GBC debunked this “water theory.”

Also in 2004 Dr. Morris at MURR tested a container with Srila Prabhupada’s “last drinking water,” saved as a sacred relic since 1977, and it was found to have NORMAL arsenic (20.28 ppB), cadmium (3.71 ppB), and antimony (1.23 ppB). It is impossible, from these levels, to result, even in 100 years of drinking, the levels that Srila Prabhupada had in his hair.

Srila Prabhupada’s heavy metals levels did not come from the water sources he used in India.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 203-214)

1.4 Was It From The Ayurvedic Medicines Srila Prabhupada Took?

During his last 18 months, Srila Prabhupada took some Ayurvedic medicines:

1. Yogendra Ras: contains traces of assimilated mercury which is good for health. He took this until Nov. 1976, and then again in April-June 1977 for 2 months. But the mercury in Srila Prabhupada’s hair tests were NORMAL.
2. During March 1977 Srila Prabhupada took some Somara-rasayana, which has no cadmium.
3. Starting in March 1977 and until November 1977, Srila Prabhupada began to take various Ayurvedic medicines as his health declined. Before March, he did not consistently take any Ayurvedic medicines except Yogendra Ras. Hair Sample D with 19.9 ppm cadmium was cut about March 8 and reflected blood contents since about Feb. 10, a time before various Ayurvedic medicines were taken. Thus Sample D rules out Ayurvedic medicines being the source of his ultra-high cadmium. And from March 1977 he took various medicines, but only for short periods before changing tom a new kaviraja’s medicine (if he took ever them at all).
4. In recent history it was found that some Ayurvedic medicines had TRACE amounts of cadmium, 100’s or 1000’s of times less than what Srila Prabhupada had in Samples D, A, Q-2. Any idea that such slightly tainted medicines could explain his cadmium levels is RIDICULOUS and scientifically untenable. No Ayurvedic medicine contains cadmium as a deliberate ingredient, as cadmium has NO POSITIVE biological function, unlike arsenic or mercury etc. Any medicine, food, water, etc can only have lethal levels of cadmium) or anything above “trace” levels) due to an intentional poisoning.
5. On Oct. 25-26, 1977 Srila Prabhupada took 3 doses of Makharadhvaja, obtained from a very reputable kaviraja and Delhi clinic, and then stopped it. How can 3 doses in October 1977 explain the cadmium found in Srila Prabhupada’s hair that was cut from mid-Nov. 1976 until early Sept. 1977 (Samples, D, A, Q-2)?  It is impossible. The Makhradhvaja was taken AFTER these hair samples were cut.
6. Further, the GBC itself tested Srila Prabhupada’s leftover Makharadhvaja medicine on Jan. 6, 2000 and it had no cadmium and normal mercury. As the GBC agent, Balavanta also tested, on Feb. 11, 1998 at National Medical Services, PA, USA, Srila Prabhupada’s leftover Yogendra Ras from April 1977 and it had no cadmium or arsenic, and normal mercury.
7. Srila Prabhupada, according to his personal servant, sometimes took Triphala Churna (laxative) or Lavan Bhaskar (black salt for digestion). If these had lethal levels of cadmium, millions of others would have become seriously ill or died over the prior centuries.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 162-168, 182, 193-4, 211, 221, 248-9, 470, 783, 787)

1.5 Was The Cadmium From Environmental Pollution?

There is no rational accidental or environmental explanation for these cadmium levels in the samples of Srila Prabhupada’s 1977 hair. Dr. Morris summarized that Srila Prabhupada, at the time represented by that hair sample, had about 20 times normal levels of arsenic. In his opinion, this would not result from typical environmental factors, but required ingestion of unusual amounts of arsenic. The likelihood of environmental contamination causing 2.6 ppm in Srila Prabhupada’s hair is almost zero, confirmed by Dr. Morris.

There is also no plausible explanation how Srila Prabhupada acquired these astronomical cadmium levels by environmental pollution, accidental exposure, occupational hazard, etc. Environmentally exposed cadmium levels in modern history have not exceeded even a fraction of Srila Prabhupada’s average 16 ppm. Average normal cadmium levels are 0.064 ppm. Average exposed cadmium levels are 0.387 ppm, or 6 X normal. Yet, Srila Prabhupada had average 250 X normal. Srila Prabhupada was not exposed environmentally, accidently, or occupationally to excessive cadmium. His cadmium levels are unprecedented and are not even found in those who have major environmental or occupational exposure and accidents.

Srila Prabhupada’s levels of cadmium were far beyond anything seen in cases of environmental contamination, and this fact is the basis for the conclusion of homicidal intent.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 13, 78-9, 131, 134, 136-8, 140-3, 149, 152, 156-9, 177, 182, 186, 204-222, 247-9, 261, 294-9, 480, 713, 731, 737-40, 826.

1.6 Did Dr. Morris Make Miscalculations?

It is very unlikely Dr. Morris made an error in his calculations on the cadmium in Srila Prabhupada’s hair. He has done thousands of neutron activation analyses on tiny samples for several decades, and this is his unique expertise and in which he is superbly qualified. Through those thousands of earlier tests he would have perfected and refined his techniques, eliminating any meaningful errors. His report states a 95% accuracy was achieved (5% ± higher or lower). This variance factor would not change his findings to a significant degree. We can justifiably have millions of times more confidence in Dr. Morris’ results than in the dishonest, fraudulent denials of ISKCON’s GBC, who are politically motivated to deny the “poison conspiracy.” Dr. Morris, on the other hand, has no motive to find elevated levels of anything. We should simply take it that the forensic scientific breakthrough discovered “accidentally” by Dr. Morris is the truth of Srila Prabhupada’s final year. Why has the GBC not arranged to test other Srila Prabhupada hair samples that have have hidden?

Dr. Morris did three separate hair tests wherein he found sky-high cadmium levels in Samples A, D, and Q-2, all similarly elevated in cadmium. He would have had to make the same miscalculation three different times in that 3 year period, during which he did countless other NAA tests by which he would have corrected any lingering anomalies in his testing regime. Dr. Morris was not doing NAA tests to measure cadmium for the first time. On each of Dr. Morris’ three cadmium tests, he uniquely refreshed his testing calibrations and calculations, coming up with similarly elevated levels of cadmium each time, and he also found similar levels of arsenic, antimony, and mercury. Seven tests, four elements, and a total of 22 values that fit together without contradictions. This consistency and cross-correlation between the three cadmium tests, one arsenic test, and the two normal pre-1977 hair tests strongly validates his findings as very accurate and reliable.

Flaws in Dr. Morris’ scientific procedures can be speculated upon in assessing the credibility of his findings in relation to the cadmium levels in Srila Prabhupada’s hair during parts of 1977. But, Dr. Morris’s findings, while not infallible, are definitely not to be taken lightly. Dr. J. Steven Morris, at a high degree of professional scientific competence, followed rigorous procedure in his analysis and calculation of Srila Prabhupada’s hair samples. Yes, if there had been a greater mass of hair, the measurements could be more accurate. But he chose Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) as the best method available for that mass. And we can be 95% confident that, even if the lowest value amongst the ranges for the three hair samples of Srila Prabhupada were true, then, still, on average, Srila Prabhupada’s hair contained about 215 X above average, or 21,500% above average. (Calculated as- [(14.9) + (19.9) + (12.4)] / 3 = 15.7 / vs .062 ppm average cadmium in human hair). We understand of course that such measurements are subject to error. So, for example, if the measured amount of cadmium in hair is, say, 30%, 60%, or even 200%, above normal, then that’s not necessarily an indication that the body has a significantly elevated cadmium level. But, 21,500%?

Dr. Morris found roughly equal high levels of cadmium in three hair samples, namely 12.9 to 19.9 ppm. And he found normal levels of cadmium in other samples. This is a consistency that speaks very strongly of their accuracy. If Dr. Morris had incorporated erroneous methodology in his tests, the results would not have these cross-correlations and consistencies. The probablility of major error in these hair tests (Dr. Morris has done thousands of NAA tests over many decades) is practically NIL.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 142, 257, 703)

1.7 Have There Been Other Malicious Cadmium Poisonings?

Yes, about two dozen cases have been documented in Ch. 36 of Srila Prabhupada’s Hidden Glories, Book One. Homicidal cadmium poisoning is not unknown, impossible, implausible, etc as the GBC claims. Cadmium is very suitable as a deadly poison, as any chemist would know.

1.8 How Would Srila Prabhupada’s Poisoners Know To Use Cadmium?

The use of cadmium in an extended, gradual poisoning implies the involvement of someone knowledgeable in its lethality and in its homicidal applications with proper doses. The poisoners may have been connected to a poisoning “professional,” as cadmium was not a well known poison in 1977. Or it could just be someone with a good chemistry knowledge. Bhakticharu Swami studied chemistry for 6 years and as his college study major in Germany up to 1976. Any chemist knows cadmium’s suitability as a homicidal poison and that it causes symptoms that are difficult to recognize and are common to many ailments.

(Hidden Glories, Book One, p. 429, Ch. 36)

1.9 So How Could These Lethal Cadmium Levels Have Happened?

Answer: Only by a deliberate, malicious, homicidal poisoning, given surreptitiously in one’s food or drink.