Abstract
The concentration of heavy metal were studied for the estimation of quality in herbal medicines which is Bupleuri Radix, Paeoniae Radix, Dioscoreae Rhizoma and Astragali Radix in products of north Gyeongbuk area Also, we collected soils from several area in Gyeongbuk, and determined heavy metal concentration of soils by ICP. We compared with herbal medicines in products of Gyeongbuk and their soils. The average levels of heavy metal of herbal medicines in Gyeongbuk area are as follows: Mercury is 0.037mg/kg, Chromium is 0.093 mg/kg, Nickel is 0.108mg/kg, Copper is 0.475mg/kg, Zinc is 3.14mg/kg, Manganese is 1.52mg/kg, Iron is 7,83mg/kg, and Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic is not detected. It was very lower in concentrations than those of average Korea area. For the heavy metals contents of Gyeongbuk area, in Gong Jung Ri, represented the higher level, it may be due to a near the road. The Cd contents in soil was not a wide difference. For the As and Pb contents in soil, Song Sa Ri (Bupleuri Radix) represented the higher level(0.68mg/kg, 1523mg/kg). Correlation coefficients of heavy metal contents in cultured herbal medicines and their soils did not give reproducible results. But the degree of correlation between a few heavy metal contents of Dioscoreae Rhizoma and their soil showed the good transfer from the soil.
