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Luo L, Wang B, Jiang J, Fitzgerald M, Huang Q, Yu Z, Li H, Zhang J, Wei J, Yang C, Zhang H, Dong L, Chen S. Heavy Metal Contaminations in Herbal Medicines: Determination, Comprehensive Risk Assessments, and Solutions. Front Pharmacol 2021; 11:595335. [PMID: 33597875 PMCID: PMC7883644 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.595335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Heavy metal contamination in herbal medicines is a global threat to human beings especially at levels above known threshold concentrations. The concentrations of five heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and copper (Cu) were investigated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) with 1773 samples around the world. According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 30.51% (541) samples were detected with at least one over-limit metal. The over-limit ratio for Pb was 5.75% (102), Cd at 4.96% (88), As at 4.17% (74), Hg at 3.78% (67), and of Cu, 1.75% (31). For exposure assessment, Pb, Cd, As, and Hg have resulted in higher than acceptable risks in 25 kinds of herbs. The maximal Estimated Daily Intake of Pb in seven herbs, of Cd in five, of Hg in four, and As in three exceeded their corresponding Provisional Tolerable Daily Intakes. In total 25 kinds of herbs present an unacceptable risk as assessed with the Hazard Quotient or Hazard Index. Additionally, the carcinogenic risks were all under acceptable limits. Notably, As posed the highest risk in all indicators including Estimated Daily Intake, Hazard Index, and carcinogenic risks. Therefore further study on enrichment effect of different states of As and special attention to monitoring shall be placed on As related contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Luo
- Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Bo Wang
- Hubei Institute for Drug Control, Wuhan, China
| | - Jingwen Jiang
- West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Martin Fitzgerald
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
| | - Qin Huang
- Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zheng Yu
- College of Medical Information and Engineering, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Hui Li
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jiqing Zhang
- Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jianhe Wei
- Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Resources Conservation and Development of Southern Medicine, Hainan Branch of the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Haikou, China
| | - Chenyuyan Yang
- Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- Akupunktur Akademiet, Hovedgaard, Denmark
| | - Linlin Dong
- Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shilin Chen
- Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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