Topic: The Potential Dangers of Black Cohosh Dietary Supplement Use and How to Address Safety Concerns with Botanical Education
Speaker: Laura Price, Undergraduate in Ethnobotany, Biology Dep’t, Frostburg St University
Black cohosh is a perennial herb native to North America. A resurgence of black cohosh in dietary supplements has resulted in regained popularity among women trying to combat the symptoms of menopause. This leads to health concerns due to lack of vigorous medical testing, non-stringent regulation of dietary supplement labels, and contamination with other species. The potential for dietary supplement contamination is more likely with herbs like black cohosh, which have not been successfully cultivated on a large scale and must be obtained through wild harvest. There are several look-alike species which can easily lead to misidentifications. Laura Price will describe an educational flow-chart developed with the assistance of Dr.Sunshine Brosi and other FSU students to assist herb harvesters in the field and address health and ecological issues that result from black cohosh harvest.