Galangal (Alpinia galanga(Linn.) Swartz.) is a popular spice in Thailand. Heavy metals, deriving from environmental pollution, might be contaminated in galangal rhizomes. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was a new and fast technique for ultratrace elemental analysis. The aim of this study was to validate a method for the determination of aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in galangal rhizomes according to the European standards (EU) using nitric acid digestion followed by ICP-MS. The parameters evaluated in the validation were recovery, repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). This method was used to analyze the concentrations of 11 heavy metals in 15 samples of galangal rhizomes collected in Nakhon Pathom province. The metal concentrations varied considerably in the different sample sources. The concentration of heavy metals in the galangal samples arranged in increasing order was Hg < Cd < As < Cr < Pb < Ni < Cu < Zn < Fe < Mn < Al. An acid digestion and ICP-MS method was applicable to determination of 11 heavy metals in galangal rhizomes, based on the recovery analysis, cost, and time taken
Determination of Heavy Metals and Lanthanides in Indian Tea by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)