Contamination from heavy metals in the erboristic preparations of malva sylvestris

Malvasylvestrisis an annual plant native to Europe, North Africa and Asia. This herbaceous species has a long history, it has been used widely as food due to its therapeutic relevance. Some parts of this plant have been employed in traditional medicine, the leaves are perfectly safe and that there are no negative effects for human consumption, although some authors have reported harmful effects due to the growth of mauve in contaminated areas. In this study the content of heavy metals was analysed in various herbal products based on M. sylvestris obtained from different European countries. The analysis conducted included elements such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.The metals were found in various concentrations with the following ranges: 0.012-0.068 mg/kg-1 for arsenic, 0.116-0.339 mg/kg-1 for cadmium, 0.096-0.271 mg/kg-1 for lead, while the mercury concentrations are below the detection limits. According to our results, in all samples the arsenic and mercury levels are below both the permissible limits provided by European Commission on the maximum content of contaminants in foodstuffs and the international limits provided by FAO/WHO for medicinal herbs and plants. Instead, non-negligible concentrations of cadmium and lead were detected, especially in the samples from South Mediterranean areas. The relationship between the contaminants and the sampling sites was investigated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s HSD post-hoc tests. Finally, the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) and the Health Risk Index (HRI) were calculated to evaluate the potential health risk from mauve products chronic consumption. Health Risk Index values resulted lower than 1, indicating that there were no risks to human health.