A Review on Heavy Metal Contamination in Herbals

Abstract

Nearly 70-80% of the world's population relies on non-conventional medicines, often derived from herbal plants, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figure. Medicinal plants are starting material for any herbal preparation such as herbal medicines, herbal teas, herbal oil etc. These preparations are being used worldwide due to their therapeutic potential and as they are considered to be safe as compared to allopathic medicines. Lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, arsenic and mercury are the most common toxic metals that have become a matter of concern due to the reports of their contamination in various herbal preparations and herbal ingredients .Although the minimum acceptable limits have been laid out as safety concern. Heavy metal are evaluated by AAS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, XRFS, HPLC, DPP, NAA, ASV and disposable sensor applications for achieving therapeutic efficacy and evolutions of heavy metal in herbals.