Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1515/aiht-2017-68-2990
Accumulation of heavy metals from soil in medicinal plants
Nina Kočevar Glavač
; Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Svetlana Djogo
; Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Slavica Ražić
; Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Samo Kreft
; Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Marjan Veber
; Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Medicinal plants accumulate heavy metals from contaminated soil, and their consumption can cause poisoning. Our objective was to determine the levels of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn in four medicinal plant species (Achillea millefolium, Hypericum perforatum, Plantago lanceolata, and Urtica dioica) and their native soil, all sampled at a former smelter. The highest soil Cd, Pb, and Zn levels surpassed the maximum allowed limit 75-fold, 48-fold, and 14-fold, respectively. Their soil levels correlated with those in the plants, but this was not the case with Cu, Fe, and Mn. Heavy metal accumulation seems to depend on the plant species, yet even so, medicinal herbs should be cultivated and gathered only from controlled (uncontaminated) areas. Polluted areas should be monitored on a regular basis, while further research should investigate the connection between the heavy metal levels in the soil, their levels available for plants, and the levels extractable from plants.
Keywords
Achillea millefolium; contamination; Hypericum perforatum; Plantago lanceolata; Urtica dioica
Hrčak ID:
186563
URI
Publication date:
20.9.2017.
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