Effect of Arsenic on Medicinal Plant

Medicinal plants are the most important source of life saving drugs for the majority of the world’s population. Human activities all over the earth have increased environmental pollution by heavy metals in agricultural soil. Medicinal, aromatic and spice plants grown in different regions of Austria were monitored as to their Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn and AS contents. Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring toxic element in the environment. Quality and safety standards for herbal medicine that clearly stipulate the maximum allowable value of heavy metals in herbal medicine have been enacted and put into effect by many countries. However, since most of these standards are determined by referring to the quality standards for foods, they are not based on the research on herbal medicine. Unlike nutritional components such as starch, lipids and amino acids, pharmaceutical components in medicinal plants are commonly secondary metabolites, and some of them are produced in much higher concentrations under environmental stress. It is necessary to improve quality standards for herbal medicines by examining and revising the maximum allowable values of heavy metals in medicinal plants, using research based on medicinal plants.