Contents Determination of 5 Heavy Metals in 5 TCM Powders by ICP-MS / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:To determine the contents of Pb,Cd,Hg,As and Cu in Panax notoginseng,Angelica sinensis,Ligus-ticum chuanxiong,Fallopia multiflora and Rheum palmatum commercially available in Tangshan. METHODS:Microwave diges-tion-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS)and single factor index and Nemerow comprehensive index were used to evaluate the heavy metal pollution in TCM powder samples;and the heavy metal limiting values in Green Trade Standards of Im-porting & Exporting Medical Plants & Prescriptions were used to evaluate the pollution of heavy metal samples. RESULTS:In the samples in 12 batches of 5 TCM powders,there were 2 heavy metal exceeded samples (P. notoginseng-3 and L. chuanxiong-2), the exceeded rate was 16.7%,exceeded indexes were Cd and Hg with the exceeded rates of 16.7% and 8.3%,respectively;heavy metals with Single factor index greater than 1 were Hg and Cd in P. notoginseng-3,and Cd in L. chuanxiong-2 with the composite indexes of 1.06 and 0.81,and pollution levels were slightly polluted and reaching warning level,respectively. CONCLUSIONS:Certain heavy metal pollution is found in TCM powder commercially available in Tangshan. Therefore,it is necessary to carry out more strictly control over the heavy metal content in Chinese herbal medicines.