Determination of Heavy Metals Concentration in Traditional Herbs Commonly Consumed in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Herbs are extensively consumed in the United Arab Emirates for their flavoring and medicinal properties. This study aimed at determining the concentration of heavy metals in selected traditional herbs consumed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A total of 81 samples of seven herbs, parsley (Petroselinum crispum), basil (Ocimum basilicum), sage (Salvia officinalis), oregano (Origanum vulgare), mint (Mentha spicata), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), were purchased from the local market in Dubai and analyzed for their cadmium, lead, copper, iron, and zinc contents. Microwave-assisted digestion was applied for the dissolution of the samples and heavy metals concentration was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). Metals were found to be present in varied concentrations in the herb samples. The concentration ranges were found as follows: less than 0.1–1.11 mg·kg−1 for cadmium, less than 1.0–23.52 mg·kg−1 for lead, 1.44–156.24 mg·kg−1 for copper, 12.65–146.67 mg·kg−1 for zinc, and 81.25–1101.22 mg·kg−1 for iron. The findings of the study suggest that most of the analyzed herbs contained unsafe levels of heavy metals that exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limits (PL).

Untargeted UPLC-Q/TOF-MS-based metabolomics and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopic analysis reveal differences in the quality of ginger from two provinces in Zambia

“…To our knowledge, the regulatory limits for Cu in ginger have not yet been set by the WHO. However, countries such as China and Singapore have set the limit for Cu in medicinal plants in general at 20 and 150 mg/kg, respectively . Going by the Chinese standard, the content of copper in the ginger samples from both locations can be said to contain safe amounts of Cu as none exceeded the 20 mg/kg limit.…”

Determination of Some Heavy Metal Concentrations of Sage Tea with FAAS

“…pH, oxidation-reduction potential), climatic conditions, anthropogenic activities (polluted, industrial areas), etc. [32]. The prevention of heavy metal pollution should primarily identify contamination sources.…”

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“…Ni is widely distributed in the environment as a result of natural and anthropogenic activities. Despite the elevated amount of Ni in the drugs, toxicity of Ni in human body is rare due to its low absorption by the body 33,34,35 . For example, in humans, the average nickel absorption is 27 ± 17% of the dose ingested in water and 0.7 ± 0.4% of the dose ingested in food 36 .…”