Detection of toxic heavy metals and pesticide residue in herbal plants which are commonly used in the herbal formulations

摘要

Herbal formulations are getting popu lar throughout the world and commercialized ex tensively for various medicinal properties. WHO has emphasized the need for quality assurance of herbal products, including testing of heavy metals and pesticides residues. In view of WHO guide lines, single herbal drugs used in herbal formula tions were collected from local market, for testing heavy metals and persistent pesticides residue. Therefore, in the present case, we have examined few local samples of certain herbs viz. Emblica officinalis, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia beler-ica, and Withania somnifera. The present stud ies were selected for estimation of four heavy metals namely Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury. Apart from these, pesticide residue Viz. Organochlorine pesticides, Organophospho-rus pesticides, and Pyrethroids were analyzed in the four samples of single crude drugs. Heavy metals and pesticide residue were found below detection limits in all the samples.