Speciation and bioaccessibility of arsenic in traditional Chinese medicines and assessment of its potential health risk

Overview

Liu and colleagues measured total arsenic, arsenic species, and arsenic bioaccessibility in 84 traditional Chinese medicines purchased in Beijing. The study included Chinese patent medicines (CPMs), Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs), and three realgar-containing CPMs. The main text reports class-level ranges and selected sample identities; supplementary sample tables are referenced but were not present in the extracted PDF, so this page does not reconstruct per-sample values from figures.

Key numbers

Total arsenic occurrence, reported by the source in mg kg−1:

Ultrasonic-extractable arsenic/speciation context:

Bioaccessible arsenic in CPMs:

Bioaccessible arsenic in CHM soups/decoctions:

• The source calculated ADD and HQ using maximum recommended medicine doses and a 60 kg adult body weight.
• For 21 CPMs without realgar, ADD of total arsenic was 0.0080-3.33 μg kg−1 d−1, average 0.88 μg kg−1 d−1; ADDs of bioaccessible arsenic and bioaccessible inorganic arsenic were 0.0060-1.6 μg kg−1 d−1.
• For three realgar-containing medicines, ADDs of total arsenic were 3700-7200 μg kg−1 d−1; ADDs of bioaccessible arsenic and bioaccessible inorganic arsenic were 11-32 μg kg−1 d−1.
• For 53 CHMs, ADDs of total arsenic, bioaccessible arsenic, and bioaccessible inorganic arsenic were 0.0010-1.6, 0.00042-0.89, and 0.00025-0.89 μg kg−1 d−1, respectively.
• Source-reported HQ values from bioaccessible inorganic arsenic were 37-107 for realgar-containing CPMs, 0.020-5.3 for CPMs without realgar (average 1.2; 43%/9 samples above 1.00), and 0.00083-3.0 for CHMs.

Methods (brief)

Twenty-four CPMs and sixty CHMs were purchased from a Beijing drugstore. Total arsenic was measured after microwave digestion of about 0.1 g sample with 3 mL HNO3 and 3 mL H2O2 for 30 min at 190 °C, followed by ICP-MS. For ultrasonic speciation extraction, about 0.1-0.2 g solid medicine or 0.5 mL liquid medicine was extracted with de-ionized water by vortexing and repeated ultrasonic extraction, then filtered through 0.22 µm membrane filters and analyzed by HPLC-ICP-MS.

Bioaccessible arsenic in CPMs was extracted with simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid based on the US Pharmacopoeia. The source used 20 mL simulated gastric fluid for 4 h at 37 °C and 220 rpm, then extracted the remaining sample with 20 mL simulated intestinal fluid under the same extraction conditions. For CHMs, the source simulated decoction by heating 0.5-1.0 g portions with 10 mL de-ionized water at 90 °C for 30 min, repeating the extraction once, combining the extracts, filtering, and analyzing by HPLC-ICP-MS. Quality control included procedural blanks, standards, duplicate samples, TORT-2, tea leaves CRM GBW(E)080001, and species-spike recoveries of 85-118% with RSD <10% (n = 5).

Related evidence

• Dietary Supplements
• Ingredient class — botanicals/herbs/traditional formulas
• Herbal/Botanical Infusions
• Herbal botanicals
• Dried Herbs
• Arsenic, Total
• Arsenic, Inorganic

Update history

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