Hidden Risks in Herbal Medicines: Potentially Toxic Elements and Health Implications in Bangladesh

Sammanfattning

Herbal medicine is widely used in the world, but there are unregulated medicines on the market that may be unsafe for humans to consume. This project investigates 55 different herbal medicines that were analyzed by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, to see if they exceed the daily limit of some potentially toxic elements for consumption. Tenelements were chosen to be analyzed. All samples were below the established safety limits for daily intake. Consumption of herbal medicines paired with daily intake of food containing various potentially toxic elements (PTE) can contribute to exceeding the daily recommended maximum intake of the element. Aluminum, lead and chromium had 1-5 samples with high concentrations of PTEs relative to the values of the guideline for the element. The higher concentration of the metals is possibly due to the accumulation in a part of a plant that has been used in the medication. For chromium and lead, the source was likely the usage of a root as an ingredient. The elevated aluminum however could not be linked to a specific ingredient of the medications. This project shows the importance of continuous monitoring of herbal medicines to ensure consumer safety.