Street R A, Kulkarni M G, Stirk W A, Southway C, Van Staden J
Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg, Scottsville 3201, South Africa.
Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2008 Aug;25(8):953-60. doi: 10.1080/02652030801993605.
South African medicinal plants are traditionally harvested from a wide range of undisclosed locations by plant gatherers. Thus, there is a risk that plant material may be exposed to a variety of pollutants. The variation in five heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, and lead) and six essential elements (boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc) was determined in commonly used South African medicinal plants obtained from street markets. Elemental content was determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometry. The reliability of the procedure was ensured by analysing a certified reference material. Medicinal plant samples contained arsenic and cadmium at levels exceeding the World Health Organization limits of 1 and 0.3 mg kg(-1) respectively. Lead and nickel were detected in all samples. Elevated iron and manganese levels were recorded in certain plant species. Multiple metal contamination of parts of medicinal plants gives grounds for concern. This study emphasizes the unsafe consequences of the South African practice of collecting medicinal plants from undisclosed locations and making these readily available to the public.
南非的药用植物传统上是由采药人从广泛的未公开地点采集的。因此，植物材料有可能接触到各种污染物。对从街头市场获取的常用南非药用植物中五种重金属（砷、镉、钴、镍和铅）和六种必需元素（硼、铜、铁、锰、钼和锌）的含量变化进行了测定。使用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法测定元素含量。通过分析一种认证参考物质确保了该方法的可靠性。药用植物样品中砷和镉的含量分别超过了世界卫生组织规定的1和0.3毫克/千克的限值。所有样品中均检测到铅和镍。在某些植物物种中记录到铁和锰含量升高。药用植物部分的多种金属污染令人担忧。这项研究强调了南非从未公开地点采集药用植物并将其向公众随意提供这一做法的不安全后果。
