Elemental impurity risk assessment in St. John's Wort supplements

Abstract

The content of elemental impurities in herbal supplements often exceeds safety limits, particularly if they are grown or harvested in polluted areas. Therefore, numerous reports have focused on the health risk assessment of elemental impurities in herbal supplements. In this study, the levels of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) within herbal supplements containing St. John's Wort, and a carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessment associated with elemental impurity exposure was conducted. Four elemental impurities in 10 herbal supplement capsules were analyzed by Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) using a Microwave Digestion system. Risk calculations were performed considering the recommended Daily intake (IR) dose advised for adult use on the supplement labels. The Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) was first determined for each elemental exposure. Subsequently, the calculated EDI value was used to compute the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) and HI values for non-carcinogenic risk assessment, and the CR and TCR values for carcinogenic risk assessment. Upon evaluating both the HI values for non-carcinogenic effects and the TCR values for carcinogenic effects, it was determined that only two samples S1 and S3, among the 10 supplements studied, do not present any carcinogenic (the CR or TCR values were between 1×10-⁶ and 1×10-⁴) or non-carcinogenic health hazards (HI < 1). The consumption of S1 and S3 at the specified dosages in adults was deemed safe. These findings emphasize the necessity for more extensive data in the quality evaluation of herbal dietary supplements and accentuate the significance of regulatory supervision and policy formulation in this domain.

Keywords

• Carcinogenic risk
• non-carcinogenic risk
• toxic element
• herbal supplement

Sarı kantaron takviyelerinde elementel safsızlık risk değerlendirmesi

Abstract

Bitkisel takviyelerdeki elementel safsızlık içeriği, özellikle kirlenmiş bölgelerde yetiştiriliyor veya hasat ediliyorsa, genellikle güvenlik sınırlarını aşmaktadır. Bu nedenle, çok sayıda rapor, bitkisel takviyelerdeki elementel safsızlıkların sağlık risk değerlendirmesine odaklanmıştır. Bu çalışmada, sarı kantaron içeren bitkisel takviyelerdeki kadmiyum (Cd), kurşun (Pb), arsenik (As) ve cıva (Hg) seviyeleri ve elementel safsızlık maruziyetiyle ilişkili kanserojen ve kanserojen olmayan sağlık risk değerlendirmesi yapılmıştır. 10 bitkisel takviye kapsülündeki dört elementel safsızlık, mikrodalga sindirim sistemi kullanılarak İndüktif Olarak Eşleştirilmiş Plazma Kütle Spektrometresi (ICP-MS) ile analiz edilmiştir. Risk hesaplamaları, takviye etiketlerinde yetişkin kullanımı için önerilen Günlük Alım (IR) dozu dikkate alınarak yapılmıştır. Her bir elementel maruziyet için Tahmini Günlük Alım (EDI) ilk olarak belirlenmiştir. Daha sonra, hesaplanan EDI değeri, kanserojen olmayan risk değerlendirmesi için Hedef Tehlike Katsayısı (THQ) ve HI değerlerini ve kanserojen risk değerlendirmesi için CR ve TCR değerlerini hesaplamak için kullanıldı. Hem kanserojen olmayan etkiler için HI değerleri hem de kanserojen etkiler için TCR değerleri değerlendirildikten sonra, incelenen 10 takviyeden sadece iki örneğin (S1 ve S3), kanserojen (CR veya TCR değerleri 1×10-⁶ ile 1×10-⁴ arasında) veya kanserojen olmayan sağlık tehlikesi (HI < 1) göstermediği belirlendi. S1 ve S3'ün belirtilen dozlarda yetişkinlerde tüketimi güvenli kabul edildi. Bu bulgular, bitkisel besin takviyelerinin kalite değerlendirmesinde daha kapsamlı verilere duyulan ihtiyacı vurgulamakta ve bu alanda düzenleyici denetim ve politika oluşturmanın önemini ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Kanserojenik risk
• kanserojenik olmayan risk
• toksik element
• bitkisel takviye

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