Determination of Four Heavy Metals in Three Traditional Chinese Medicines by ICP-MS

Objective To establish an ICP-MS method for the determination of heavy metals,including Pb,Cd,Cu,As,in three traditional Chinese medicines,Herba Epimedh,Radix Angelicae Sinensis,Radix Astragali.MethodsThe samples were digested by closed-versel microwave.The four heavy metals were directly analyzed by ICP-MS.ResultsFor all of the analyzed heavy metals,the correlative coefficients of the calibration curves were over 0.999 6.The recovery rates of the procedure were 96.3%～112.0%,and its RSD was lower than 7.26%.Under the given analytical conditions,the results showed that the contents of the four elements varied in these different medicines,for element Pd,ranging between 0.306 2～0.806 2 μg·g-1,Cd 0.040 9～0.080 4 μg·g-1,Cu 14.260 0～18.230 0 μg·g-1,As 0.246 4～1.152 3 μg·g-1,respectively.ConclusionThis method is convenient,quick,accurate and highly sensitive.The method can be used for the quality control of trace elements in traditional Chinese medicines.