ArticleHeliyon2024
Quantification of toxic heavy metals, trace elements and essential minerals contents in traditional herbal medicines commonly utilized in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Article in Heliyon, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It has been retracted, and should not be counted. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Toxic Metal in Plant-Based Therapeutics: Contamination Pathways, Oxidative Stress Induction, and Onset of Disease.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2026Pooled it
- Communication between Norwegian Pakistani patients and healthcare providers about traditional and complementary medicine: a qualitative study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Article
- Comprehensive chemical profiling and human health risk assessment of potentially toxic heavy metals in some traditional herbal concoctions from Botswana.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- The safety of herbal medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): current landscape and promoting the pharmacovigilance practices.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the combined effects ofJournal of advanced pharmaceutical technology & researchArticle
Corrections and comments
- Retraction · 2025-12-22Concerns/Issues about Peer Review · Objections by Author(s) ·
- Retracted
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Traditional herbal medicines and health supplements have been empirically used to treat various disorders but most of them are not standardized and have not been experimentally validated for safety and efficacy. In the present study, various dosage forms of traditional herbal medicines prescribed for specific diseases were collected from local practitioners at different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The collected samples were analyzed for heavy metal, trace elements, and minerals using atomic absorption spectroscopy. All the tested samples contained heavy metals, trace elements and minerals in different concentrations. All the samples were tested positive for the presence of toxic heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). The trace elements like cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) were also detected in acceptable range. Similarly, the samples analyzed were rich in some of the essential minerals such as sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) which are necessary for the proper functioning of the body. The hazard quotient (HQ) values were measured for toxic heavy metals to determine their safe ranges for human body. The HQ values were above the permissible range for arsenic (As) in all detected samples while for cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), the values ware above in 50 % of the analyzed samples. The detection of toxic metals and their HQ values beyond the permissible limits in different dosage forms raised questions about their quality. This study suggests that evaluation of traditional herbal remedies for the metals contents and their standardization are strongly recommended for quality assurance and protection of public health.
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Registered trials
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.