Int J Toxicol, 2005 May-Jun;24(3):165-71.
PMID: 16040569 DOI: 10.1080/10915810590952942

Abstract

The DCA (Drug Control Authority) of Malaysia implemented the phase 3 registration of traditional medicines on 1 January 1992. As such, a total of 100 products in various pharmaceutical dosage forms of a herbal preparation containing Smilax luzonensis, either single or combined preparations, were analyzed for the presence of lead, using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results showed that 14% of the above products possessed 10.02 to 21.21 ppm of lead, and, therefore, they failed to comply with the quality requirement for traditional medicines in Malaysia ( <10 ppm). Although this study showed that 86% of the products complied with the quality requirement for traditional medicines in Malaysia pertaining to lead, they cannot be assumed safe from lead contamination because of batch-to-batch inconsistency.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.