Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33817180›Full record

ArticleOpen life sciences2019

Evaluation of Heavy Metals and Microbiological Contamination of Selected Herbals from Palestine.

Murad Abualhasan, Nidal Jaradat, Zahraa Sawaftah, Hala Mohsen, Dyala Najjar, Wahbi Zareer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open life sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Murad AbualhasanAn-Najah National University, Faculty of medicine and health sciences, Department of Pharmacy, Nablus, Palestine.
Nidal JaradatAn-Najah National University, Faculty of medicine and health sciences, Department of Pharmacy, Nablus, Palestine.
Zahraa SawaftahAn-Najah National University, Faculty of medicine and health sciences, Department of Pharmacy, Nablus, Palestine.
Hala MohsenAn-Najah National University, Faculty of medicine and health sciences, Department of Pharmacy, Nablus, Palestine.
Dyala NajjarAn-Najah National University, Faculty of medicine and health sciences, Department of Pharmacy, Nablus, Palestine.
Wahbi ZareerQuality control manger, Birzeit Palestine pharmaceutical company, Ramallah, Palestine.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHerbal medicine is widely used for the prevention and treatment of diseases worldwide including Palestine and may require long term usage. The level of some heavy metals and microbial contaminants in some of these medicinal plants consumed by Palestinians were studied in order to evaluate their quality. METHODOLOGY: The level of metals including: Zinc, Cadmium, Lead and Copper were quantified by Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Moreover, the bacterial and fungal contaminations were tested for some of the selected plants in Palestine. The procedures of microbial and elemental testing of the plants followed USP.

resultsThe result of the heavy metals testing showed that copper and cadmium were above the allowable limits in all the tested plants. Zinc metal was above the allowable limit in 78.9% of the tested samples. The microbiological results of the tested plants showed that 63.2% of the tested plants were contaminated by bacteria and 89.5% were contaminated by yeast.

conclusionsHerbal medicine used in the Palestinian markets doesn't meet the international requirement for heavy metal and microbiological limits. Therefore, urgent action has to be taken by the responsible authorities including the Ministry of health to implement importation and registration requirements and perform regular quality checks of sold and imported herbal medicines. Pharmacists as expert professionals must take an active role in selling and advising consumers about the quality and efficacy of the sold plants.

Indexed as

heavy metals contaminationherbal medicinemicrobiological contamination

Identifiers

PMID33817180
PMCPMC7874764

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.