Original Articles
Edebi. N Vaikosen,Gideon. O Al
Abstract
Five heavy metals lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and cobalt (Co) were determined in four (4) branded Pax-herbal products - Paxherbal Health Tea®, Paxherbal Potensine®, Paxherbal Malatreat tea® and Paxherbal Black powder® using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) after acid digestion. The samples were purchased from manufacturer’s (Pax-herbal) retail out-let in Yenagoa. The concentration of lead (Pb), Cd, Zn, Fe and Co in all the samples ranged from BDL to 102.200 ± 1.838 μg/g, 0.249 ± 0.010 μg/g to 2.839 ± 0.018 μg/g, BDL to 14.638 ± μg/g, ), 88.557 ± 1.135 μg/g to 269.074 ± 3.433 μg/g and 0.604 ± 0.002 μg/g to 9.781± 0.032 μg/g respectively. Pb content was below detection limits (BDL) in Paxherbal Health Tea® and Paxherbal Potensine®, while the amount in Paxherbal Malatreat tea and Paxherbal Black powder was 102.200 ± 1.838 μg/g and 49.528 ± 0.583 μg/g respectively. The corresponding daily intake of heavy metals in herbal drugs were below limits stipulated by regulatory agencies such - FAO/WHO, Canadian and American National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International, except for Paxherbal Malatreat tea where the value of 418.611 μg/day (based on recommended dosage by manufacturer) was significantly above the FAO/WHO permissible limit of 232.14 μg/day, assuming an average body weight of 65 kg for an adult human.