Abstract

 
 
 
 Purpose: To determine the heavy metal content of selected local and international herbal medicines sold for the treatment of various diseases in Pakistan.
 Methods: The different dosage forms of herbal medicines assessed were crude forms of syrups, gel, capsule, powder and tonic. Wet digestion method was used to prepare the herbal samples using nitric acid, and then analyzed for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg), using MHS-15 mercury/hydride system and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS).
 Results: The investigated results displayed the Arsenic level (0.00 ppm to 0.580 ppm); Cadmium (0.001 ppm to 0.006 ppm); Lead (0.00 ppm to 1.078 ppm) and Mercury (0.001 ppm to 0.012 ppm). All results were found below the permissible limit of acceptability intake of the World Health Organization (WHO) and American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). The pH of the samples were in the range of 1.52 to 6.99.
 Conclusion: The findings reveal that the investigated herbal products available in Pakistan are safe with reference to heavy metals, and considered non-toxic for human consumption.
 
 
 
Highlights
Over the past few decades, the consumption of herbal medicines has constantly been on the rise all over the world
Maximum level of arsenic was observed in sample 6, cadmium in sample 8, lead in sample 6, and mercury in sample 5
Results were compared with the allowable limit acceptability intake of the World Health Organization (WHO) and American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)
Summary
Over the past few decades, the consumption of herbal medicines has constantly been on the rise all over the world. The present study was conducted to determine the concentration of toxic heavy metals i.e., lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium levels in frequently used herbal products available in Karachi at various medicine outlets and herbal shops. 2 g of sample was accurately weighed and transferred to a 100 mL conical flask, 10 mL of concentrated nitric acid was added and it was kept overnight for better digestion and maximum recovery of heavy metals. Afterwards, it was heated on an electric hot plate at 250 °C for a duration of 2 h, until the solution became totally colorless. The pH of tonic, gel, crude powders, capsule and powder sachet were measured after dissolving the herbal samples in distilled water in the ratio of 1:1, while pH of samples in syrup form was measured directly [8]
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