The Safety Assessment of Toxic Metals in Commonly Used Pharmaceutical Herbal Products and Traditional Herbs for Infants in Jordanian Market

The objective of this study was to assess the levels of contamination by toxic metals (Pb, Al, Ni, Cd and As) that may be present in 25 infant pharmaceutical herbal products and 15 traditional herbs in Jordan. Both products and medicinal herbs are currently prescribed by paediatricians. They are available as over-the-counter medicines and are sold the in herbal market, ensuring easy accessibility for parents. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), with limit of detections (LODs) of 0.10, 1.00, 0.20, 0.15 and 2.00 mg.kg⁻¹ for Pb, Al, Ni, Cd and As respectively, was employed to measure the levels of toxic metals in the samples. Pb, Al and Ni were detected in 88, 76 and 4% of the analysed samples of pharmaceutical herbal products and in 93, 87 and 13% of the analysed samples of traditional herbs, respectively. Neither Cd or As were detected in all analysed samples. The data obtained were subsequently compared by referral to the acceptable limits of toxic heavy metals according to World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. Largely, the results showed acceptable toxic metal levels in the finished pharmaceutical products and the traditional medicinal herbs for infants. One exception to this was Persian Thyme (Satureja thymbra) with Pb content of 41.18 mg.kg⁻¹. Also, the daily intake of detected metals through pharmaceutical herbal products was found to be lower than the daily tolerable intake limit set by the regulatory bodies, except of 8% of products that exceeded the tolerable daily intake of Pb set by US FDA, as compared to traditional medicinal herbs, where the tolerable daily intake for Pb, Al and Ni were exceeded in 40, 60 and 8% of the analysed herbs, respectively. The results obtained revealed that the excessive use of medicinal plants as alternative medicine should be used with caution keeping in mind the safety factor in infants.

     

新疆塔里木柯坪地区上奥陶统凯迪阶串管海绵类化石及其滤食选择性探讨北大核心

奥陶纪是串管海绵早期演化的一个关键阶段,记录了该类群的首次大规模辐射演化事件(属级分类单元达15个)。然而,现有大部分奥陶系串管海绵的报道来自澳大利亚东部和北美等地,在中国至今仅发现了两个属,与前述地区相比研究程度偏低。早期研究主要基于形态学特征对串管海绵进行系统分类描述,对其滤食策略知之甚少,因此制约了对此类海绵在奥陶纪底栖生态系统作用的相关探讨。本文系新疆塔里木柯坪地区奥陶纪串管海绵的首次系统古生物学报道,详细描述凯迪阶(上奥陶统)印干组中保存完好的阔室丛花海绵(Corymbospongia amplia)化石的形态学特征,并通过研究标本外壁微孔孔径的大小分布,探讨其滤食选择性。海绵外壁微孔孔径的分析表明:小型和微型浮游生物可能是其食物的主要来源,而多细胞浮游动物因个体尺寸大于海绵外壁微孔,不能被阔室丛花海绵捕获。本研究为奥陶纪串管海绵古生态学及其地球生物学意义的探讨提供了进一步的依据。