Determining the content of toxic elements (Pb, Cd, and As) in herbal plants collected from different sites in northern Vietnam

Abstract

Plants might contain heavy metals from the surrounding polluted environment. Medicinal herb and plants, commonly used in Vietnam, may pose a risk to public health when polluted with heavy metals such as Pb, Cd and As. This study aims to investigate the content of Pb, Cd, and As in five selected herb plants (Phyllanthus urinaria L., Plantago asiatica L., Eleusine indica L., Wedelia chinensis (Osbeck) Merr, and Artemisia vulgaris L.). The samples were collected from natural sites in some provinces in northern Vietnam. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, and As were determined by the Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method. The content of Pb, Cd and As was 0.247 ÷ 32.080 mg kg-1, 0.000 ÷ 1.099 mg kg-1, 0.000 ÷ 2.261 mg kg-1, respectively. A total of 50 out of the 58 investigated samples had concentrations of Pb, Cd, As lower than the permissible values of the World Health Organization (WHO). The remaining samples had contents of Pb or Cd or As significantly higher than the permissible limit defined by WHO.