Concentration of copper, zinc, cadmium and lead in selected herbs / Nik Nabihah Hanim Nik Effendi

It is very obvious that herbs are sources that are used since many years ago until
now. This is because herbs have many purpose such as in cooking, perfumes,
disinfectant and most important is use as a natural medicine. In the current study,
the concentration of some essentials and non-essentials heavy metals such as zinc
(Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) exist in selected herbs that were
bought from the local markets were analysed using Atomic Absorption
Spectroscopy (AAS) after using dry ashing as a treatment method. Selected herbs
consist of Zingiber officinale (ginger), Curcuma tonga (turmeric) and Alpinia
galangal (galangal). The concentration ranges for the heavy metals were found to
be 0.221-0.442 mg/kg, 0.008-0.064 mg/kg, below detection limit (BDL)-0.136
mg/kg and 0.006-0.083 mg/kg for Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd respectively. Concentration
for heavy metals analysed were below the permissible limit that recommended by
Malaysian Food Regulation (1985). The Hazard Index (HI) for all heavy metals
was found to have the value less than 1. HI value for Zingiber officinale, Curcuma
tonga and Alpinia galangal were 2.02xl0-5, 6.85xl0-5 and 6.85xl0-5 respectively.
Thus, the daily intake will not expose any risk to the consumers if the
concentration of heavy metals is concerned and there is no non-carcinogenic risk
from the digestion of these four metals individually.