Assessment of lead and cadmium in fifty-four Indian herbal medicine: tribal and marketed varieties

The objective of this study was to assess the toxic metal content in herbal medicines being used by Indian people. Trace elements, lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), in fifty-four herbal medicines (marketed and tribal varieties) of India were estimated, and the potential health risks were characterized by estimating the tolerable daily intake (TDI) and the total hazard quotient (THQ) associated with their consumption. A total of 12% of the marketed varieties had Pb above WHO permissible limits of 10 mg Pb/kg. In tribal varieties, none of the samples exceeded this limit. In contrast, all the marketed varieties and 17% of the tribal varieties exceeded WHO limit of 0.3 mg Cd/kg. Consumption of ~ 0.01 kg of herbal medicine per day contributed almost 20–28% of TDI of Pb and Cd for marketed varieties and