Occurrence and health risk of pesticide residues in Chinese herbal medicines from Shandong Province, China.

Pesticide residue was one of the stress factors affecting quality and safety of Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs). The present study was designed to investigate the occurrence and dietary exposure of 70 pesticide residues in 307 samples of CHMs, including 104 American ginseng, 100 Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum), and 103 Dendrobium officinale (D. officinale) in Shandong Province, China. The study revealed that a total of 29 pesticides were detected in the majority (92.5%) of samples, and the pesticide residues of 85 (27.7%) samples exceeded the maximum residue levels (MRLs). Particularly, the maximum concentration of chlorpyrifos was 23.8 mg kg-1, almost 50 times of the MRLs in food in GB 2763-2021, while there's no standard restrictions specified in CHMs in China. The chronic, acute, and cumulative risk assessment results indicated that risk exposure of the three types of CHMs were unlikely to pose a health risk to consumers. However, more attention should be paid to the multiple residues with the presence of four or more pesticides in one sample and high over-standard rate of pesticides. The pesticide users and the government should pay more attention to the pesticides used in CHMs and regularly monitor the presence of these compounds. The study recommended the MRLs of these pesticides in CHMs should be established and perfected by the relevant departments in China.

Fluoride in tea from Shandong Province, China and exposure assessment.

In this study fluoride in 170 tea samples from Shandong province (China) was determined using a selective ion electrode. The fluoride concentrations ranged from 31.2 to 338 mg/kg with an average of 119 mg/kg. The mean fluoride concentrations were 164, 121, 98.7 and 96.8 mg/kg, which corresponded to Pu'erh tea, green tea, oolong tea and black tea, respectively. Moreover, 4.7% of the analysed samples exceed the legal limit of 200 mg/kg recommended by China. The estimated daily intake of fluoride via drinking tea for an adult was between 0.655 and 1.07 mg/person/day, which were lower than the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake value of 3.5 mg/person/day set by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China. In future, maintaining a surveillance programme to monitor the trend of fluoride in tea is necessary for food safety and human health.

Decolorization affects the structural characteristics and antioxidant activity of polysaccharides from Thesium chinense Turcz: Comparison of activated carbon and hydrogen peroxide decolorization.

Different decolorization methods have different effects on the properties of polysaccharides. In this study, polysaccharides extracted from Thesium chinense Turcz (T. chinense) were decolorized using either hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which has been previously reported, or activated carbon. To begin, the conditions for decolorization by activated carbon were optimized through single factor experiments and orthogonal modeling and were predicted to be best at 0.5% (w/w) activated carbon, pH 5.0 and 40 °C in a water bath for 60 min. Following treatment by the two methods, the structures of the decolorized polysaccharides were compared. The samples treated by activated carbon (CTP) had higher molecular weight (Mw: 3.064 × 105 g/mol) and more sulfate groups (14.33%, w/w), whereas the samples treated by H2O2 (HTP) had lower Mw (8.349 × 104 g/mol) and more uronic acid (35.02%, w/w). The antioxidant capacities of the two samples were analyzed by free radical scavenging (DPPH, hydroxyl and ABTS) and cell antioxidant activity (CAA). The HTP showed a better scavenging effect on free radicals and a higher CAA. Together, the results showed that various decolorization methods differentially influence the characteristics of the polysaccharides extracted from T. chinense.

Quantitative analysis and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible vegetable oils marketed in Shandong of China.

This work studies on the quantitative analysis and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in edible vegetable oils in Shandong, China. The concentrations of 15 PAHs in 242 samples were determined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection. The results indicated that the mean concentration of 15 PAHs in oil samples was 54.37 µg kg(-1). Low molecular weight PAH compounds were the predominant contamination. Especially, the carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) was detected at a mean concentration of 1.28 µg kg(-1), which was lower than the limit of European Union and China. A preliminary evaluation of human health risk assessment for PAHs was accomplished using BaP toxic equivalency factors and the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR). The ILCR values for children, adolescents, adults, and seniors were all larger than 1 × 10(-6), indicating a high potential carcinogenic risk on the dietary exposed populations.

[Normative research on bacteriostasis and relieving itching external therapeutic function of kochiae fructus].

OBJECTIVE: To normalize bacteriostasis and relieving itching external therapeutic function of Kochiae Fructus. METHODS: Itching guinea pig model caused by histamine, itching mice model, eczema guinea pig model caused by OVA, and inhibitory effect on pathogens in vitro were used to observe the itching threshold, symptoms and other related physiological index, as well as the inhibitory effect on the normal skin fungi by water extraction of Kochiae Fructus to evaluate the external therapeutic function of Kochiae Fructus. RESULTS: The itching threshold of guinea pig itching model treated by water extraction of Kochiae Fructus at high, medium and low three dosage level, could be significantly increased when compared with negative control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); Red speckle of OVA guinea pig model treated by water extraction of Kochiae Fructus at high, medium and low three dosage level, could be significantly decreased when compared with negative control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); The number of itching and total time of itching within 30 minutes of mice model caused by R-glycose anhydride treated by water extraction of Kochiae Fructus at high, medium and low three dosage level, could be significantly decreased when compared with negative control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); Several common skin fungi could be significantly inhibited by the water extraction of Kochiae Fructus. MIC of the water extraction of Kochiae Fructus on Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum canis, Trichophyton violaceum, and Trichophyton schoenleini were 3.12%, 0.78%, 0.78%, 0.78%, 0.78%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Kochiae fructus has the effect of bacteriostasis and relieving itching.