Determination of Heavy Metal in Agarwood from Different Resources and Evaluation on its Safety

Abstract:

Objective: To determine the content of Cu, Pb, As, Hg, Cd, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Sn, Ba, Ti and Se in fifteen agarwood from different resources and evaluate their safety. Method: The samples were digested by microwave digestion method, and detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. Result: The content of Pb and Cd of four samples from seven merchant samples were overrun the limit by China Pharmacopoeia Committee. However, the content of Cu, Pb, As, Hg and Cd of the other eight samples, including seven agarwood samples produced by whole-tree agarwood-inducing technique and one agarwood sample produced by fungi-inoculation method, met the requirement of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Conclusion: At present now, the content of harmful heavy metal from lots of merchant agarwood were overrun the limit. It has become a very serious phenomenon. Therefore, we must pay high attention to the safety of agarwood for medicine.

Key words:Agarwood;heavy metal;safety;inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)