Monitoring heavy metals, residual agricultural chemicals and sulfites in traditional herbal decoctions.

BACKGROUND: Asian traditional herbal preparations are frequently considered for the contamination with undeclared toxic or hazardous substances. The aim of this study was to determine the toxic heavy metals, pesticides and sulfur dioxide in decoctions that is a common form of final utilization in Korea. METHODS: A total of 155 decoctions composed of multi-ingredient traditional herbs were randomly sampled from Seoul in Korea between 2013 and 2014. For each decoction, the concentrations of four heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury), 33 pesticides and sulfur dioxide were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), mercury analyzer, gas chromatography/nitrogen phosphorous detector (GC/NPD), gas chromatography/micro electron capture detector (GC/µECD), and Monier-Williams method respectively. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-two of One hundred fifty-five decoctions (98.1%) contained one of three heavy metals (96.1% for As, 97.4% for Cd, and 90.3% for Pb, 0.0% for Hg). Their average concentrations (77.0 ± 79.7 ug/kg for As, 20.4 ± 23.7 ug/kg for Cd, and 68.8 ± 76.5 ug/kg for Pb) were approximately 20% of the maximum allowable limits of vegetable or ginseng beverage described in the Korean Food Standard Codex while their 95th percentile concentrations were below than the guideline for them. None of 33 pesticides was detected in 155 decoction samples, and only one sample showed over limit of detection for residual sulfites. CONCLUSIONS: This study support that the contained status of toxic heavy metals, pesticides and sulfur dioxide in herbal decoctions are currently within safe level in Korea, and provide a reference data for the further studies focused on the safety herbal preparations.

Incidence and level of aflatoxins contamination in medicinal plants in Korea.

During 2011~2013, a total of 729 samples for 19 types of medicinal plant were collected from Seoulyekryungsi in Seoul, Korea, and investigated for the presence of aflatoxins. The samples were analyzed using immunoaffinity column cleanup and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a fluorescence detector after post-column derivatization. Aflatoxins were found in 124 out of the 729 analyzed samples: 65 containing aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), 24 with aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), 15 with aflatoxin G1 (AFG1), and 20 samples with aflatoxin G2 (AFG2). The ranges for positive samples were 0.1~404.7 µg/kg for AFB1, 0.1~10.0 µg/kg for AFB2, 0.1~635.3 µg/kg for AFG1, 0.1~182.5 µg/kg for AFG2, and 0.1~1,043.9 µg/kg for total aflatoxins. Most of the medicinal plant samples (721, 98.9%) were below legal limits, but 8 samples exceeded the legal limits of 10 and 15 µg/kg established by the Korean standard for AFB1 and total aflatoxins (the sum of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), respectively.