Nutraceuticals are products that are consumed for health benefits such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, and extracts. According to FDA regulations, most nutraceuticals are classified as dietary supplements and not drugs. Under this definition, a dietary supplement is meant to provide nutrients, whereas a drug is designed to treat illness or disease. Because supplements aren’t considered drugs, they aren’t put through the same strict safety and effectiveness requirements that drugs are. Recent concerns with these products have included the presence of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and lead. Due to its rise in popularity and increase in availability and usage, hemp oil products and other essential oil blends were chosen for this project. Since plants are potential bio-accumulators of heavy metals and a large amount of plant material is processed to extract the nutraceutical concentrates and essential oils, there exists a risk of heavy metal contamination. The objective of this study was to measure levels of inorganic contaminants in these products. The hemp and essential oils were purchased from various sources including vitamin distribution companies and CBD suppliers. Each sample was acid-digested using a CEM Mars6 Microwave Digester in order to free the metals from organic substrates. Samples were analyzed on an Agilent Technologies 7900 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) and Milestone DMA-80 Direct Mercury Analyzer to determine the presence of selected inorganic contaminants. Preliminary results showed up to 10 ppb of mercury in these products. No detectable lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, or thallium were found in the tested samples.

Detection of heavy metals in cannabis-based nutraceutical products

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.