Department of Biology and Environmental Science, School of Science and Technology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-Rankuwa, South Africa.
Department of Health Science and The Water School, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, USA.
Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024 Feb;202(2):778-786. doi: 10.1007/s12011-023-03701-4. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
The use of medicinal plants for the treatment of diseases, including cancer, is acknowledged and accepted in many African nations. Heavy metal contamination of plant materials poses a potential health risk, particularly for populations that are already vulnerable. This study determines the levels of heavy metals in medicinal plant samples used for treatment of skin cancer and evaluate the health risk caused by heavy metals to the adult population in Pretoria, South Africa using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of metals were as follows; As (<0.2 - 1.04±0.026), Cd (0.02 ±0.00026 - 0.167±0.006), Pb (0.38 ±0.01 - 2.27±0.05), Cr (5.31±0.21- 26.9 ±3.96) mg/kg, and Hg which were lesser than 0.02 mg/kg. The mean concentrations of all analyzed heavy metals are above permissible limit except for Hg which are lower than the permissible limit. The Hazard Quotient (THQ) was less than 1 for all the heavy metals, suggesting that there are no obvious non-carcinogenic health risks associated with the consumption of these medicinal plants for now even though the prolonged use may result in health risks. The ingestion route was identified as the primary contributor to the overall risk by the health index (HI) values in the present study, which were more than 1, indicating that the combined effects of the heavy metal contaminants present in a particular herbal preparation pose health risk in the long term. Our findings support the need for close monitoring of potential heavy metal concentrations in medicinal plants given to patients from herbal shops.
在许多非洲国家，人们承认并接受使用药用植物来治疗疾病，包括癌症。植物材料中的重金属污染构成了潜在的健康风险，特别是对于那些已经脆弱的人群。本研究通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定了用于治疗皮肤癌的药用植物样本中的重金属含量，并评估了重金属对南非比勒陀利亚成年人口造成的健康风险。金属浓度如下：As（<0.2-1.04±0.026），Cd（0.02±0.00026-0.167±0.006），Pb（0.38±0.01-2.27±0.05），Cr（5.31±0.21-26.9±3.96）mg/kg，Hg 则小于 0.02mg/kg。除 Hg 低于允许限量外，所有分析重金属的平均浓度均高于允许限量。所有重金属的危害系数（THQ）均小于 1，表明目前食用这些药用植物不存在明显的非致癌健康风险，尽管长期使用可能会导致健康风险。在本研究中，健康指数（HI）值大于 1，表明摄入途径是造成整体风险的主要因素，这表明特定草药制剂中存在的重金属污染物的综合效应会对长期健康构成风险。我们的研究结果支持密切监测草药商店提供给患者的药用植物中潜在重金属浓度的必要性。
