US EPA

1373109 

Technical Report 

Contaminated herbal tea as a potential source of chronic arsenic poisoning 

Parsons, JS 

1981 

International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) 

PESTAB/81/1527 

C 

1 

PESTAB. A case is reported of a 54-yr-old man who developed symptoms of arsenic poisoning. Symptoms included acute gastroenteritis and sensorimotor polyneuropathy with limb weakness. An initial 24-hr urine sample contained arsenic at 1950 mug/l. Nail clippings contained 6000 mug/100 g arsenic. No potential sources of exposure were determined at the patient's home or work sites. It was determined that the patient routinely consumed 32-48 oz (0.95-1.493 kg) of yellow root herbal tea daily. A tea sample was found to contain 11 mug/l arsenic. When tea was prepared from 10 samples of yellow root purchased at the municipal market, each batch contained 15-68 mug/l arsenic. The most common variety of the yellow root plant is Xanthorrhiza simplicissima, although there are several other species. Since arsenic is not found as a natural constituent in the plant, its presence is suggested to be due to accidental contamination of the soil and streams in the plant's natural habitat.