TABLE 2.
Application of ICP-MS in the determination of heavy metals in medicinal materials derived from the stem of plants.
| Latin name | Medical system | Therapeutic use | Main pharmacological effects | Origin of medicinal materials a | Test results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acorus calamus L. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Forgetfulness, tinnitus, deafness, traumatic injury | Antidepressant, anti-anxiety, antihypertensive, antibacterial, anti-tumor | Sichuan province of China | The contents of Mg, P, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb in A. calamus L. were determined. They are Fe-676, Mn-1275, Cu-13.3, and Zn-36.7 mg/kg, respectively. As is 1.1 mg/kg, the contents of Cr, Ni, and Pb are less than 0.5 mg/kg, and the contents of Cd and Hg are less than 0.05 mg/kg. The contents of major elements Ca, P, and Mg are relatively high, which are Ca-6101, p-3706, and Mg-130 mg/kg, respectively (Li, 2017) |
| Allium victorialis L. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Cardiopathy, hypertension, arteriosclerosis | Anti-inflammation, bacteriostasis, anti-neuroinflammation, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases | Dongfeng County, Jilin province, China | The contents of Li, Be, B, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Cs, Ba, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U in the stems and leaves of A. victorialis L. were determined. The mass concentration range of the measured elements is 0.008243–886.2 μg·L−1, r ≥ 0.9996, the detection limit is 0.0002–0.1240 μg·L−1, the recovery rate is 97.11%–100.30%, and RSD ≤ 5.0%. The stems and leaves of A. victorialis L. are rich in trace elements, among which the content of Fe is the highest, followed by Mn, Sr, Ba, Zn, and B. The contents of heavy metal elements Cu, As, Pb, and Cd are lower than the national standard limit (Si et al., 2020) |
| Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge | Traditional Chinese medicine | Cough, fever, constipation | Anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, improving Alzheimer’s disease | Hebei, Anhui, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Jilin provinces or autonomous regions of China | The contents of Cu, As, Cd, Pb, and Hg in 20 batches of A. asphodeloides Bunge from six producing areas such as Hebei and Anhui were determined. One sample of heavy metal exceeding the standard is Cd, and the exceeding rate is 5.0% (Xie, 2018) |
| Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Ulcers, constipation, insomnia, diabetes, hypertension, cancer | Anti-inflammation, bacteriostasis, improving gastrointestinal function and nerve function | Longhui, Pingjiang, and Longshan counties, Hunan province, China | The contents of 48 trace elements Li, Be, B, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Ta, W, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi in three batches of rhizomes of A. macrocephala were determined. The linear relationship of each element is good, and the correlation coefficient of each standard curve is r ≥ 0.9996. The detection limit is 0.0001–0.1600 g/L. RSD of precision, stability, and repeatability were less than 4.7%, 4.9%, and 4.4%, respectively. The recovery was 96.9%–101.7% and RSD was 0.3%–3.5% (Yang et al., 2018) |
| Bletilla striata (Thunb.) Rchb.f. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hemoptysis, hematemesis, traumatic bleeding, sore swelling, poison | Anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antiviral microorganism, mucosal protection | Chongqing and Hubei provinces or municipalities of China | The residues of Pb, Cd, As, Hg, and Cu in B. striata (Thunb.) Rchb.f. from different producing areas such as Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces of China were determined. The linear relationship of the five elements is good (r > 0.9992), and the recovery is 99%–114% (Li et al., 2021) |
| Conioselinum anthriscoides (H. Boissieu) Pimenov & Kljuykov | Traditional Chinese medicine | Heartache, irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, headache | Anti-tumor, anticoagulant, anti-cerebral ischemia, and anti-depression | Sichuan province of China | The contents of Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Cd, Ba, Tl, and Pb in C. anthriscoides “Chuanxiong” were determined. When the sample weight is 0.2 g, the determination results are Cr (1.7262 ± 0.180) mg/kg, Mn (55.5089 ± 2.640) mg/kg, Co (0.2652 ± 0.012) mg/kg, Ni (1.1429 ± 0.065) mg/kg, Cu (9.8778 ± 0.400) mg/kg,. As (0.1297 ± 0.010) mg/kg, Cd (0.4061 ± 0.030) mg/kg, Ba (12.2330 ± 1.520) mg/kg, Tl (0.0236 ± 0.003) mg/kg, Pb (0.7091 ± 0.051) mg/kg (Zhang et al., 2017a) |
| Coptis chinensis Franch. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hyperglycemia, hypertension | Anti-inflammation, anti-arrhythmia, lowering blood pressure and anti-tumor | — | The contents of 39 inorganic elements Mg, K, Cu, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ba, Ag, Pb, As, Cd, Cr, Li, be, V, Co, Ga, Se, Y, Cs, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Tl, and Th in 67 batches of C. chinensis Franch. were determined. The average contents of K, Mg, Mn, Zn, and Fe are the highest, and the content of rare earth elements is generally low (Zhou et al., 2021) |
| Corydalis yanhusuo (Y. H. Chou & Chun C. Hsu) W. T. Wang ex Z. Y. Su & C. Y. Wu | Traditional Chinese medicine | Chest, flank, epigastric pain, heartache, dysmenorrhea | Analgesia, anti-anxiety, anti-myocardial ischemia, anti-gastrointestinal ulcer | — | 1) The contents of nine heavy metals and harmful elements such as Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd, Sn, Co, Hg, and As in C. yanhusuo (Y. H. Chou & Chun C. Hsu) W. T. Wang ex Z. Y. Su & C. Y. Wu were determined. The linear relationship between nine heavy metals and harmful elements is good (r ≥ 0.9998), the detection limit is 0.0016–0.0227 μg/g, and the recovery rate is 96.0%–100.4%, RSD ≤ 3.25%. The contents of Cu, As, Pb, Hg, and Cd in C. yanhusuo (Y. H. Chou & Chun C. Hsu) W. T. Wang ex Z. Y. Su & C. Y. Wu are lower than the limit values of the national standard green industry standard for the import and export of medicinal plants and preparations and the 2015 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Li et al., 2019a) |
| 2) The contents of Pb, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Mn in C. yanhusuo (Y. H. Chou & Chun C. Hsu) W. T. Wang ex Z. Y. Su & C. Y. Wu were determined. The calibration curves of the five elements have a good linear relationship, and the recovery of each element is between 98.9% and 101.3% (Su, 2012) | |||||
| Curcuma phaeocaulis Valeton | Traditional Chinese medicine | Tumor, inflammation, thrombus | Anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, and antioxidant | Hainan, Guangdong, Yunnan, and Guangxi provinces or autonomous regions of China | The elements of Li, Hg, Be, Mg, Pb, K, V, Ca, Cu, Ti, As, Cr, Mn, Ba, Fe, Tl, Ni, Zn, Ga, Sb, Na, Sr, Cd, and Al in C. phaeocaulis Valeton from different habitats were determined. The contents of trace elements in C. phaeocaulis Valeton from different producing areas are different, and the contents of K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Al, Zn, and other elements are higher (Zhang et al., 2017b) |
| Cymbopogon schoenanthus (L.) Spreng. | Arabic medicine | Malaria, colds, fever, asthma, | Antibacterial and antioxidant | Saudi Arabia | The contents of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Se in C. schoenanthus (L.) Spreng. were determined. Fe level is the highest, and Se level is the lowest among all plants. The TE series levels of all elements in all plants are as follows: Fe 193.4–1757.9, Mn 23.6–143.7, Zn 15.4–32.7, Se 0.13–0.92, and Cu 11.3–21.8 μg/g (Brima, 2018) |
| Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hyperglycemia, hypertension, liver injury, tumor | Enhance immunity, protect the liver, and improve gastrointestinal function | Anhui, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, and Yunnan provinces or autonomous regions of China | 1) The contents of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni and V in Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo were determined. There was a positive correlation between Ni and Zn (r = 0.986, p < 0.01). Ti was positively correlated with V (r = 0.669, p < 0.05), and negatively correlated with Cr (r = −0.710, p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between Mn and BA (r = 0.749, p < 0.05). Iron content was positively correlated with Ni (r = 0.664, p < 0.05), Zn (r = 0.742, p < 0.05), and rare earth (r = 0.847, p < 0.01) (Zhu et al., 2016) |
| 2) The contents of 24 inorganic elements of Li, Na, Mg, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Rb, Sr, Cd, Cs, Ba, La, Nd, Tl, and Pb in D. officinale Kimura & Migo from different origins in Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan were determined. The contents of K, Ca, Mg, and Na in Dendrobium candidum are high (Zhao et al., 2020a) | |||||
| 3) The contents of Pb, Cd, Cu, As, and Hg in D. officinale Kimura & Migo were determined. The linear relationship of the five heavy metal elements is good, the correlation coefficient is 0.9982–0.9999, and the detection limit is 0.008–0.750 μg/L. The recovery was 90.4%–96.9%, and the relative standard deviation was 1.6%–8.2% (Jia et al., 2011) | |||||
| Dioscorea oppositifolia L. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia | Hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and anti-tumor | Anhui, Henan, and Guizhou provinces of China | The contents of 17 elements of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, Se, Sr, Mo, Pb, Cd, Hg, Cu, and As in D. oppositifolia L. were determined. The detection limit of each inorganic element is 0.00004–0.016 mg/kg, the linear relationship is good, the correlation coefficient is in the range of 0.9993–0.9999, the recovery rate of standard addition is 95%–105%, and the determination result is accurate (Long, 2018) |
| Gastrodia elata Blume | Traditional Chinese medicine | Infantile convulsion, headache, epilepsy, tetanus | Anticonvulsant, antidepressant, neuroprotective | Anhui, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Jilin, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang, and Chongqing provinces or municipalities of China | The contents of As, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ga, Hg, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ti, Tl, and V in 30 batches of G. elata Blume from different habitats were determined. The linear relationship of 20 elements to be tested is good (R ≥ 0.9982), the RSD of the repeatability test is ≤6.34%, the RSD of the stability test is ≤6.00%, the RSD of the precision test is ≤5.78%, the recovery of the sample is 91.62%–108.10%, and the RSD is ≤5.21% (Yu et al., 2017a). |
| Iris domestica (L.) Goldblatt & Mabb. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Cough, inflammation, tonsillitis, lumbago | Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral | Henan, Hebei, Hubei, Anhui, Hunan, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces of China | The contents of Pb, Cd, As, Hg, and Cu in 13 batches of I. domestica (L.) Goldblatt & Mabb. harmful metals from seven different producing areas such as Henan, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces of China were determined. Among 13 batches of samples from seven producing areas, only four batches of samples have all elements within the limit, and other samples have different elements exceeding the standard, of which the exceeding standard rate of Cd element is As high as 62% (Guan et al., 2021) |
| Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. ex Benth.) T.G.Hartley | Traditional Chinese medicine | Pharyngalgia, malaria, icteric hepatitis, cold, fever, tonsillitis | Anti-inflammation and analgesia | — | The contents of Cu, Pb, Hg, As, and Cd in M. pteleifolia (Champ. ex Benth.) T. G. Hartley were determined. The correlation coefficient of the standard curve of the measured elements is in the range of 0.9996–0.9999, and the linear relationship is good. The average recovery of the method is 93.4%–96.6%, and the RSD is 4.6%–9.4% (Long et al., 2013). |
| Pleione bulbocodioides (Franch.) Rolfe | Traditional Chinese medicine | Snakebite | Anti-tumor | Guizhou province of China | The contents of Be, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, and Ba in Guizhou P. bulbocodioides (Franch.) Rolfe were determined. The linear relationship of each element is good, and the correlation coefficient is greater than 0.995. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of repeatability is less than 7.5%. Relative standard deviation of precision (RSD) < 4%. The recovery was 81.37%–114.61% (Chen et al., 2020c) |
| Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hyperglycemia, inflammation | Antioxidant, hypoglycemic, anti-tumor, antibacterial | — | 11 elements such as Li, B, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Pb, Be, Cd, and Tl in P. odoratum (Mill.) Druce were determined. The content of K is the highest, reaching 8652 μg/g, Ca 2158 μg/g, Mg 696 μg/g, Al 444 μg/g, Fe 191 μg/g, Pb 0.71 μg/g, Cd 0.43 μg/g, Tl 0.063 μg/g. Be content is the least, only 0.028 μg/g (Liu et al., 2016) |
| Sargentodoxa cuneata (Oliv.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson | Traditional Chinese medicine | Amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea | Antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, immunosuppressive | Hunan, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces of China | Determination of 23 elements Na, Mg, Al, K, CA, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Ag, Cd, Cs, Ba, Hg, and Pb in S. cuneata (Oliv.) Rehder & E. H. Wilson in Hunan, Anhui, and Zhejiang, China. For the measured elements, the correlation coefficient of the standard curve is r > 0.9987, and the relative standard deviation of the method accuracy experiment is RSD < 9.1% (Liu and Shu, 2013) |
| Sauromatum giganteum (Engl.) Cusimano & Hett. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Tetanus, epilepsy, snakebite | Anti-infection, anti-convulsion, anti-tumor | Henan, Jilin, Shaanxi, Hubei, and Sichuan provinces of China | The contents of Ni, Zn, As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ba, Co, Sr, Se, Ti, Fe, Al, K, Mg, P, and Hg in S. giganteum (Engl.) Cusimano & Hett. were determined. The contents of K, P, Mg, Fe, Zn, Al, and Mn are high (Liu et al., 2018b). |
| Sinomenium acutum (Thunb.) Rehder & E. H. Wilson | Traditional Chinese medicine | Rheumatoid arthritis pain, chronic glomerulonephritis, arrhythmia | Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-tumor | Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of China | The matrix effect was compensated with Be, Y, Sc, In, and Re as internal standards. The contents of 28 elements of Li, B, Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, and Bi in S. acutum (Thunb.) Rehder & E. H. Wilson were determined. The detection limit of each element is 0.01–0.8 μg·L−1, the standard deviation is 0.11%–2.57%, and the recovery is 94.00%–110.80%. The content of 16 elements in Sinomenium wilfordii is 2 mg·kg−1, among which K, Mg, CA, Na, and other elements have the highest content (Duan et al., 2012b). |
| Sparganium stoloniferum (Buch.-Ham. ex Graebn.) Buch.-Ham. ex Juz. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, heartache | Anti-inflammation, analgesia, anti-tumor, anti-fibrosis, and inhibition of ovarian cyst | — | The contents of Mn, Cr, Sr, Zn, Rb, B, Ni, Cu, Mo, and Se in S. stoloniferum (Buch.-Ham. ex Graebn.) Buch.-Ham. ex Juz. were determined. The correlation coefficients of the regression equation of each element r ≥ 0.9998, the detection limit was 0.0019–0.1644 g/L, and the recovery was 96.33%–113.33%. The content of Mn, Zn, Ni, B, Cu, and other elements in traditional Chinese medicine Sanleng is high, and the content of Mn is the highest (681.5 g/g) (Wang and Jin, 2018d) |
| Spatholobus suberectus Dunn | Traditional Chinese medicine | Tumor, viral cold | Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-tumor, antiviral, anti-depressive | Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of China | The contents of 28 elements of Li, B, Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, and Bi in S. suberectus Dunn were determined. The detection limit of each element is 0.01–0.8 μg/L, the standard deviation is 0.11%–2.57%, and the recovery rate is 94.00%–110.00%. There are 13 elements with a content of more than 2 mg/kg, among which the contents of Ca, K, Mg, and other elements are the highest (Su et al., 2013) |
| Taxillus chinensis (DC.) Danser | Traditional Chinese medicine | Rheumatism, metrorrhagia | Anti-tumor, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood sugar, lowering blood lipid | Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of China | The contents of Pb, Cr, Hg, As, Cu, and Cd in T. chinensis (DC.) Danser were determined. The average contents of the six elements accord with Cu > As > Pb > Hg > Cr > Cd (Shen et al., 2017) |
| Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hypertension, arrhythmia, Alzheimer’s disease | Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anticancer | Guizhou province of China | The contents of K, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Mo, Co, Pb, Cr, Hg, As, and Cd in the mixed samples of hook and stem of U. rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. in Jianhe County, Guizhou province, China, were determined. The contents of trace elements Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Co, and Zn are greater than those in the hook. The highest content of trace elements in hook and stem was K, followed by Ca. The content of heavy metal elements Cr, Cd, and Pb in the stem is slightly higher than that in the hook, the content of Hg in the hook is higher than that in the stem, some exceed the standard, and the content of Cu and As in the hook and stem is close (Zhang et al., 2016b) |
| Zingiber officinale Roscoe | Traditional Chinese medicine | Inflammation, arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia, tumor | Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and bacteriostatic | — | The contents of Cu, Zn, Co, Mn, Cr, Se, Ni, Mo, V, and Sn in dried Z. officinale Roscoe were determined. The contents of Mn, Cu, and Zn are 328.2049, 57.4596, and 20.2833 g/g, respectively, and the contents of Sn, Ni, Cr, Se, V, Co, and Mo are 9.0956, 4.5861, 3.2654, 1.6022, 1.0364, 0.4992, and 0.1175 g/g, respectively. The regression equation coefficient of each element r ≥ 0.9998, the linear relationship of 10 elements is good in the range of 0–500 g/L, the detection limit of each element is less than 0.1460 g/L, the quantitative limit is less than 0.4867 g/L, and the recovery rate is 99.63%–101.46%. The RSD of precision, stability, and repeatability were less than 3% (Wu et al., 2019a) |
a
Note: the origin of medicinal materials recorded in the table is collected from the articles.
If the origin of medicinal materials is not recorded in the articles, it is indicated by “—.”