Determination of heavy metal contents in Gardeniae Fructus and fried Gardeniae Fructus and their health risk assessment

Abstract

In this study, the contents of Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Hg in 10 batches of Gardeniae Fructus and 10 batches of fried Gardeniae Fructus from Fuzhou in Jiangxi were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS), and the target hazard coefficient(THQ) for different drug users(adults and children) was calculated by using the international health risk assessment model. According to the ISO and green industry standard, the content of Hg in 4 batches of Gardeniae Fructus exceeded the standard with an over-standard rate of 40%. The THQ and total THQ of Hg in 2 batches of Gardeniae Fructus were higher than the international standard limit of Gardeniae Fructus. For 10 batches of fried Gardeniae Fructus, the content of every heavy metal and total amount of five heavy metals did not exceed the standard. However, the THQ and total THQ of Hg in 1 batch of fried Gardeniae Fructus were higher than the international standard limit of Gardeniae Fructus. As compared with Gardeniae Fructus, the contents of Cu, Pb and Hg in fried Gardeniae Fructus decreased by 34.0%, 77.6% and 23.1%; the THQ of Cu, Pb and Hg for adults decreased by 33.3%, 75.0% and 96.9%; and the THQ of Cu, Pb and Hg for children decreased by 37.5%, 75.0%, 90.7%. It showed that the contents of heavy metals in individual batches of Gardeniae Fructus in this experiment had a certain risk to human health, but the contents of these heavy metals in fried Gardeniae Fructus had no obvious effect on human health. This study provided experimental basis and research ideas for safety evaluation of Gardeniae Fructus and fried Gardeniae Fructus.