Determination of heavy metals in traditional Chinese medicines in Xinjiang

Objective To determine the content of Pb,As,Hg and Cd in five kinds of traditional Chinese medicines,safflower,licorice root,Fritillaria cirrhosa,Hippophae rhamnoides and Vernonia anthelmintica collected in Xinjiang,to provide scientific basis for quality control and clinical safe medication of the Chinese crude drugs.Methods Samples were digested with microwave digestion system,and contents of As,Hg,Pb and Cd were directly by atomic fluorescent spectrometry.Results For all of the analyzed heavy metals,the correlative coefficient of their calibration curves were 0.999 42,0.999 50,0.999 51,0.999 52,respectively.The contents of As,Hg,Pb and Cd in the five traditional Chinese medicines were normal,and accorded with regulations of Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China.Conclusions The method is convenient,quick,accurate and highly sensitive,and can be applied to determine heavy metals in traditional Chinese medicines with satisfactory results.