Heavy metal hazards of Nigerian herbal remedies

Obi, Ejeatuluchukwu; Akunyili, Dora N.; Ekpo, Bassey O.; Orisakwe, Orish Ebere

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.04.024

Cited by 140 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Asian traditional medicines have been reported to contain high levels of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury (Okatch et al, 2012). Heavy metals have also been detected in herbal remedies in South America (Gomez, Cerutti, Sombra, Silva, & Martınez, 2007) and Africa (Obi, Akunuilli, Ekpo, & Orisakwe, 2006). Thus, assessing metals in medicinal plants is important in relation to their safety and in initiating awareness among consumers who often assume that all natural products are safe.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal Concentration in Commonly Used Medicinal Herbs and Infusion by Lebanese Population: Health Impact

Korfali¹,

Mroueh²,

Al-Zein³

et al. 2013

JFR

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The levels of K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Pb, As, Cd, Cr, and Pb in commonly used medicinal herbs and their infusions by Lebanese were analyzed by EDXRF and ASS techniques, respectively. The order of metal contents in the herbs was found to be: K (6990-19850 μg/g) > Ca(1630-14450 μg/g) > Fe(80-3650 μg/g) > Mn (28-458 μg/g) > Zn (23-108 μg/g) > Cu (5-71 μg/g) > Cr (3.1-55 μg/g) Pb> (1.1-10.3 μg/g) > As (nd-10.8 μg/g) > Cd (nd-1.7 μg/g). The mean levels of toxic metals in herbs Pb, As and Cd were below WHO permissible levels. Cluster analysis indicated metals are most probably in plants due to wastes disposal and irrigation with contaminated wastes and/or from atmospheric waste particulates. The levels of Mn, Cr, Pb and As in herbal infusions were found to be higher in soaked than boiled preparations and correlated with Fe, while Zn and Cu levels were higher in boiled infusions. The highest weekly intake from herbal infusions of toxic metals Cr (492.8 μg), As (77.0 μg), Pb (291.2 μg) and Cd (19.0 μg) were below the recommended permissible tolerable weekly intake respectively 1260 μg, 900 μg, 1500 μg, and 150 μg. Therefore, the consumption of these traditional medicinal herbs does not pose any health risk provided full compliance with recommended daily doses.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal Concentration in Commonly Used Medicinal Herbs and Infusion by Lebanese Population: Health Impact

Korfali¹,

Mroueh²,

Al-Zein³

et al. 2013

JFR

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“…The daily consumption of lead, based on the recommended dose of the products, was computed and is shown in Table 5. The recommended daily consumption of lead is 20 -514 µg/day [14]. Based on this limit, 19 out of the 25 products exceeded the permissible limit.…”

Section: Leadmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The computed daily intake of cadmium due to the consumption of these products is given in Table 4. The recommended consumption of cadmium is 70 µg/day [14]. Based on this, 17 products out of 25 exceeded the permissible limit.…”

Section: Cadmiummentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Heavy Metal Content of Branded Pakistani Herbal Products

Saeed¹,

Muhammad²,

Khan³

2011

Trop. J. Pharm Res

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“…However, most patients consuming herbal preparations are not aware of the toxic or potential adverse effects these preparations may produce [2][3][4][5] or any form of interactions associated with the use of such products when co-administered with orthodox medicine [6,7]. Some known herb-drug interactions have been reported to be negative in nature, such as concomitant administration of garlic and warfarin which leads to prolonged bleeding [8][9][10], while some interactions may have beneficial effect on drug therapy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%