Cadmium in Herbal Weight Loss Products as a Health Risk Factor for Consumers

Abstract Herbal weight loss remedies are produced on the basis of various plant species which could accumulate heavy metals from the environment. The consumption of contaminated herbal preparations could be a source of consumer exposure to toxic metals. The aim of the study was to evaluate the content of cadmium in selected herbal weight loss products available on the Polish market in terms of exposure of consumers to the heavy metal included in herbal infusions prepared from the studied products and the related health risk. The study included 29 herbal weight loss products available on the Polish market. The content of cadmium in the analyzed dried herbs and herbal infusions was analyzed. On the basis of the obtained results, the exposure of consumers to cadmium and related health risk were estimated. Cadmium concentration in dried herbs did not exceed the maximum allowable concentration. The exposure of consumers of the most contaminated herbal infusions to cadmium could be even equal to half of the reference dose, which is an acceptable exposure threshold. The total health risk of consumers resulting from the dietary exposure to cadmium could be high because the analyzed herbal products are not the essential part of the total diet.

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Dietary exposure to trace elements and health risk assessment in the 2nd French Total Diet Study

Food and Chemical Toxicology ◽

10.1016/j.fct.2012.04.016 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 50 (7) ◽

pp. 2432-2449 ◽

Cited By ~ 165

Author(s):

Nathalie Arnich ◽

Véronique Sirot ◽

Gilles Rivière ◽

Julien Jean ◽

Laurent Noël ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Trace Elements ◽

Health Risk ◽

Health Risk Assessment ◽

Dietary Exposure ◽

Total Diet Study ◽

Total Diet ◽

Diet Study

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Application of UHPLC and GC/MS for Detection of Hidden Drugs in Traditional Hand-Made Herbal Slimming Products

Jundishapur Journal of Natural Pharmaceutical Products ◽

10.5812/jjnpp.82992 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Tayebeh Tahamtan ◽

Maryam Akhgari ◽

Zahra Mousavi ◽

Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Keyword(s):

Weight Loss ◽

Weight Reduction ◽

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients ◽

Herbal Drugs ◽

Health Issues ◽

Herbal Products ◽

Herbal Preparations ◽

Pharmaceutical Ingredients ◽

The World ◽

Gilan Province

Background: Obesity is one of the health issues all over the world. Patients always demand convenient and fast methods for weight reduction. Hand-made herbal drugs are advertised by herbal practitioners to gain this goal. Unscrupulous manufacturers produce herbal products that are adulterated with hidden legal or illegal drugs to lose weight in a shorter period of time. Objectives: The main purpose of the present study was to analyze hand-made herbal slimming drugs to detect undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients. Methods: Forty hand-made herbal products sold as weight loss aid were prepared from 270 herb shops in Gilan province, Iran, in a six-month period. All samples were analyzed using UHPLC and GC/MS instrumentations. Results: The results showed that 25% of collected herbal preparations contained caffeine. Moreover, an unlabeled herbal tablet contained metformin. Conclusions: Herbal slimming products in Gilan province were not adulterated as much as herbal drugs collected from other provinces in Iran. However, adulteration practices may endanger the health or safety of consumers.

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Health Risk Assessment and Determination of Some Heavy Metals in Commonly Consumed Traditional Herbal Preparations in Northeast Ethiopia

Journal of Chemistry ◽

10.1155/2020/8883837 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Mihreteab Meseret ◽

Gebremariam Ketema ◽

Haile Kassahun

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Health Risk ◽

Health Risks ◽

Microwave Plasma ◽

Daily Intake ◽

Permissible Limit ◽

Potential Health ◽

Herbal Preparations ◽

Northeast Ethiopia

Background. Most traditional medicines were prepared from plant origins. These plants could be contaminated by heavy metals, pesticides, and/or toxins. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the level of heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and copper (Cu) in frequently used traditional herbal preparations sold in Northeast Ethiopia and to estimate their health risks associated with their daily intake. Methods. A total of 6 traditional herbal preparations were randomly collected from local herbal shops of Dessie and Kombolcha town, Northeast Ethiopia. The samples were prepared for analysis by wet digestion method using nitric acid and hydrochloric acid treatment. The accuracy of the method was analyzed by the spike recovery test. Determination of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu by microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy was made in herbal preparations traditionally used in Dessie and Kombolcha town, Northeast Ethiopia. By calculating estimated daily intake (EDI), hazard quotients (HQ), and Hazard Index (HI) of metals, the health risk associated with the consumption of the analyzed herbal preparations was also evaluated. Results. The levels of heavy metals were in the range of 3.0–3.92 mg/kg for Pb, 5.35–10.7 mg/kg for Cr, and 0.815–12.3 mg/kg for Cu. However, cadmium was not detected in any of the traditional herbal preparations. This study revealed that the level of Pb and Cu in all analyzed samples was within the WHO maximum permissible limit of 10 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg, respectively. The level of Cr in all traditional herbal preparations was beyond the WHO maximum permissible limit (2 mg/kg). From the health point of view, the HQ value of Cr for KD-03 and KD-04 is greater than 1, suggesting potential health risk. Furthermore, the HI value had revealed that the consumption of KD-02, KD-03, and KD-04 samples had the potential of posing health risks to consumers over long-term consumption of herbal preparations. Conclusion. This study showed that most of the metal concentration levels in the herbal products were within the WHO maximum permissible limits. However, all samples had Cr levels above the WHO maximum permissible limit. Based on the results of this study, there would be a noncarcinogenic health risk to the consumer associated with the consumption of some herbal preparations marketed in Northeast Ethiopia.

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