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Correlation Between Toxic Elements and Pesticide Residues in Medicinal Herbs Available in Pharmaceutical Market

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Abstract

The use of medicinal plants for self-medication of minor health conditions has become a widespread practice in contemporary society. Few consumes, however, question the contamination of these products with toxic factors resulting from the planet’s increasingly polluted environment. This paper presents the levels of five toxic elements (As, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Hg) and nine organochlorine pesticides (hexachlorobenzene (HCB), lindane, heptachor, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, p,p’DDE, p,p’DDD, and p,p’DDT) in 14 brands of regularly consumed medicinal products in Romania. The toxic elements content was determined using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique, and organochlorine pesticide residues (OPCs) were quantified using gas-chromatographic method, equipped with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results show that in the case of Cr, Cd, and Hg, the concentrations exceeded the limit values established by World Health Organisation (WHO) for raw herbal material. The higher level of OPCs (such as p,p’DDD, p,p’DDT, aldrin, and dieldrin) was found in the samples of Hypericum perforatum-St. John’s wort, Crataegus monogyna-hawthorn, and Epilobium parviflorum-hoary willowherb. The correlations between the content of toxic elements and pesticides were determined by statistical analysis. Hierarchical clustering technique was used to detect natural grouping between the toxic elements and pesticides. For herb samples, four clusters were identified, the strongest correlated cluster consisting of Pb, HCB, Cr, and Hg. A further analysis within this cluster suggested that Cr levels are statistically different from the rest of the elements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences II, Ovidius University of Constanta, 6, Aleea Universitatii, Campus 1, 900470, Constanta, Romania

    Mihaela Mirela Bratu

  2. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ovidius University of Constanta, 124, Mamaia Avenue, 900527 9, Constanta, Romania

    Semaghiul Birghila

  3. Faculty of Mathematics, Institute for Mathematical Stochastics, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany

    Corina Birghila

  4. NIMRD “Grigore Antipa” National Institute for Marine Research and Development, Bvd.Mamaia, nr. 300, RO-900581, Constanta, Romania

    Valentina Coatu & Diana Andreea Danilov

  5. National Institute for Research and Development on Marine Geology and Geoecology – GeoEcoMar, 23-25 Dimitrie Onciul Str, Bucharest, Romania

    Naliana Lupascu & Dan Vasiliu

  6. Department of Biological Sciences II, Ovidius University of Constanta, Aleea University Avenue, Campus 1, 900470, Constanta, Romania

    Marius Daniel Radu

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  1. Mihaela Mirela Bratu
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MMB: sampling, formal analysis, investigation, supervision; SB: validation, visualisation, writing — original draft; CB: statistical data analysis; NL: methodology; DV: visualisation, supervision; VC: investigation, validation; DAV: methodology, validation; MDR: review and editing.

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Bratu, M.M., Birghila, S., Birghila, C. et al. Correlation Between Toxic Elements and Pesticide Residues in Medicinal Herbs Available in Pharmaceutical Market. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 5848–5860 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03642-y

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