US EPA

1338777 

Journal Article 

Assessment of potential health risk for arsenic and heavy metals in some herbal flowers and their infusions consumed in China 

Zhu, F; Wang, X; Fan, W; Qu, L; Qiao, M; Yao, S 

2013 

Yes 

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
ISSN: 0167-6369
EISSN: 1573-2959 

SPRINGER 

DORDRECHT 

185 

5 

3909-3916 

English 

22983610 

10.1007/s10661-012-2839-y 

WOS:000316968500026 

Herbal tea is consumed widely in China due to their therapeutic efficacy, mild features, and relatively low cost. To assess the health risk associated with drinking herbal tea, arsenic and seven heavy metals, namely Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cd, Ni, and Pb in eight different types of herbal flowers and their infusions were determined by inductively coupled-mass spectrometry after microwave digestion. The accuracy and precision of the analytical method were confirmed by the certified reference material (GBW 07605). The results suggested that significant differences existed in all metal concentrations determined among different varieties of herbal flowers and their infusions. In general, the concentration of iron was higher than those of seven other metals in the investigated herbal flowers and their infusions. The hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) were calculated to evaluate the noncarcinogenic health risk from individual metal and combined metals due to the dietary intakes via consumption of herbal infusions. Both the HQ and HI levels were far below one, suggesting that the dietary intakes of the eight metals determined from daily consumption 4.5 g of the investigated herbal flowers for a normal adult should pose no potential risk to human health. 

Herbal flowers; Herbal infusions; Arsenic; Heavy metals; Health risk; China