Nonconventional medications including herbs are widely used for treatment of diverse illnesses globally. This study investigates heavy metal contamination and potential health risks in five commonly consumed medicinal plants in Nigeria. Samples were analysed using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The mean concentrations of metals ranged between 0.45-5.68, 0.73-6.95, 0.83-10.95, ND-19.79, 2.69-77.18, 10.68-50.05, and 23.22-97.07 mg/kg for Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Fe and Zn, respectively. The metals indicate strong variability with the sampled medicinal plants. The mean concentrations of Cd and Pb exceeded the permissible limits recommended by FAO/WHO (0.2 and 0.3 mg/kg, respectively) in all the samples. The non-carcinogenic risk was evaluated by assessing the target hazard quotient (THQ) of each metal and the hazard index (HI) due to the cumulative effects of all the metals. The THQ and HI for Cd and Pb were found to be greater than one, indicating likely adverse health effects from ingestion of the medicinal plants. The THQ and HI values also show that ingestion of the medicinal plants pose greater risk to children than adults

Occurrence and health risk assessment of hazardous contaminants in herbal medicines

254th National Meeting (2017)

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