TABLE 3.
Application of ICP-MS in the determination of heavy metal elements in medicinal materials derived from the leaf of plants.
| Latin name | Medical system | Therapeutic use | Main pharmacological effects | Origin of medicinal materials a | Test results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. | Arabic medicine | Respiratory and reproductive system related diseases | Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticoagulant | Saudi Arabia | The contents of Al, Pb, Cd, and As in A. artemisiifolia L. were determined. The recoveries of all measured elements were 86.1%–90.6%. The content of Al element is the highest, and the concentration range of Al is 156–1609 mg/kg. The content of Cd is the lowest, and the concentration of Cd is in the range of 0.01–0.10 mg/kg. The washing process reduces toxic elements in all plants. The average recoveries were Al (47.32%), As (59.1%), Cd (62.03%), and Pb (32.40%) (Brima, 2017) |
| Artemisia vulgaris L. | Arabic medicine | Respiratory and reproductive diseases | Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial | Saudi Arabia | The contents of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Se in A. vulgaris L. were determined. Fe level is the highest, and Se is the lowest. Te series level: Fe 193.4–1757.9 μg/g, Mn 23.6–143.7 μg/g, Zn 15.4–32.7 μg/g, Se 0.13–0.92 μg/g, and Cu 11.3–21.8 μg/g (Brima, 2018) |
| Callicarpa nudiflora Hook. & Arn. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Acute infectious hepatitis, traumatic bleeding, respiratory bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding | Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-tumor | — | The contents of Cr, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, and Ni in the dry extract of naked flower C. nudiflora Hook. & Arn. were determined. The linear range of six heavy metal elements is 0–40 ng/ml, and the correlation coefficient is 0.9982–0.9999. LOQ is 0.0049–0.0659 ng/ml. The precision, repeatability, and stability are good, and the relative standard deviation RSD is less than 2.0%. The recoveries of low, medium, and high levels were between 90.0% and 101.6% (Zheng et al., 2017) |
| Crataegus pinnatifida Bunge | Traditional Chinese medicine | Heartache, palpitation, hyperlipidemia | Anti-atherosclerotic, hypoglycemic, and liver-protective | Liaoning province of China | The contents of Mg, K, Ca, B, Na, Al, Si, Fe, Sr, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Ba, Pb, Li, V, Co, As, Ru, In, Tm, Ta, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Bi, Be, Ge, Rh, Ag, Ho, Er, Ti, Th, Dy, U, Nb, Cs, Pr, Sm, Gd, Se, Zr, Mo, Sn, W, Ce, Pd, Cd, Sb, and Nd in leaves of C. pinnatifida Bunge were determined. The contents of K, Ca, Mg, Si, Fe, Al, Na, Sr, and B are higher, with the highest content of K and the lowest content of Tm (Zhang et al., 2012a) |
| Cycas revolute Thunb. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Amenorrhea, dystocia, cough, hematemesis, cancer | Anticancer | Guangxi, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, Guangdong, and Yunnan provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions of China | The contents of Pb, Cd, As, Hg, and Cu in leaves of C. revolute Thunb. were determined. The five heavy metal elements have a good linear relationship in the corresponding concentration range (r ≥ 0.999). The precision of the method meets the requirements. The recovery rate of standard addition is 87.4%–121.9%, and the RSD is less than 5% (Chen et al., 2020a) |
| Laminaria japonica Aresch. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Thyromegaly, cervical lymphadenopathy, bronchitis, tuberculosis, cough, senile cataract | Antibacterial, antiviral, hypoglycemic, and anti-tumor | — | The contents of 15 rare earth elements La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y in L. japonica Aresch. were determined. The detection limit of 15 rare earth elements is 14.69–31.25 ng/l, the method precision (RSD) is in the range of 1.4%–6.7%, and the recovery is in the range of 93.8%–108.6%. The contents of Y, La, Ce, and Nd in L. japonica Aresch. are high (Lei, 2017) |
| Morus alba L. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hyperglycemia, cancer, viral cold | Hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antiviral, and anti-tumor | Guangdong province of China | The contents of Cr, Mn, As, and Cd in leaves of M. alba L. were determined. r is between 0.998124 and 0.999998, the recovery is 87%–100%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) is less than 2% (Shen et al., 2013) |
| Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco | Traditional Chinese medicine | Hematemesis, epistaxis, hemoptysis, hematochezia | Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, and hypolipidemic | Shanxi, Hunan, Hainan, Hebei, Chongqing, Gansu, Henan, and Anhui provinces or municipalities of China | The contents of 18 heavy metals and trace elements Pb, Ti, Hg, Dy, Ba, Sb, Sn, Cd, Ag, Mo, Se, As, Cu, Ni, Mn, Cr, Al, Be, Ge, and In in 63 batches of leaves of P. orientalis (L.) Franco from different producing areas such as Hunan, Shanxi, and Hainan provinces of China were determined. The linear relationship of 18 elements was good, the correlation coefficient was R 2 ≥ 0.9746, and the detection limit of each element was 0.224–1.792 μg·L−1, the recovery was 81.0%–117.1%. 63 batches of P. orientalis (L.) Franco leaf samples, the contents of Hg, Cu, Cd, and Sb were low. As was not detected, some samples of Ba exceeded the limit, most samples of Pb exceeded the limit, and Al exceeded the limit (Zhang et al., 2018) |
| Psidium guajava L. | Traditional Chinese medicine | Dysentery, acute enteritis, chronic enteritis | Hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and antiviral | Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Hainan, and Fujian provinces or autonomous regions of China | The contents of Be, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sb, Pb, and Hg in leaves of P. guajava L. were determined. The linear relationship of each element is good, and the correlation coefficient is greater than 0.995. The RSD of each element is less than 4.57%, the RSD of sample repeatability is less than 12.09%, and the recovery range of each element is 76.96%–118.55% (Li et al., 2019b) |
| Vitex agnus-castus L. | Arabic medicine | Irregular menstruation | Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, and antioxidant | Saudi Arabia | 1) The contents of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Se in V. agnus-castus L. 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 μg/g, Mn 23.6–143.7 μg/g, Zn 15.4–32.7 μg/g, Se 0.13–0.92 μg/g, and Cu 11.3–21.8 μg/g (Brima, 2018) |
| 2) The contents of Al, Pb, Cd, and As in V. agnus-castus L. were determined. The recoveries of all measured elements were 86.1%–90.6%. The content of Al element is the highest, and the concentration range of Al is 156–1609 mg/kg. The content of Cd is the lowest, and the concentration of Cd is in the range of 0.01–0.10 mg/kg. The washing process reduces toxic elements in all plants. The average % recoveries were Al (47.32%), As (59.1%), Cd (62.03%), and Pb (32.40%) (Brima, 2017) |
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 “—.”