Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Determination of the heavy metal contents of frequently used herbal products in Pakistan

Tehseen Quds¹, Maryam Ahmed¹, Sadia Shakeel^2,3, Nusrat Jalbani⁴, Farah Mazhar¹, Iqbal Azhar¹

¹Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Karachi; ²Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan; ³Discipline of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia; ⁴Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Laboratories Complex, Karachi, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Sadia Shakeel Email:

Accepted: 24 January 2021 Published: 28 February 2021

Citation: Quds T, Ahmed M, Shakeel S, Jalbani N, Mazhar F, Azhar I. Determination of the heavy metal contents of frequently used herbal products in Pakistan. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(2):377-382 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i2.23

© 2021 The authors.
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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.

Keywords: Heavy metals, Branded herbal products, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, Toxicity