Neutron activation analysis of heavy metal elements in Chinese medicines and medical herbs

'Kanpo (Chinese method)' is a kind of traditional Chinese medical science, and 'Kanpo-yaku (Chinese medicines)' is the drugs on the basis of this medical science. The raw materials for Chinese medicines mainly use ingredients derived from nature, such as herbs, parts of living animal body, and ores, and these are collectively referred to as crude drugs. Using instrumental neutron activation analysis, this study performed the qualitative and quantitative analysis of metal elements contained in the Chinese medicines and crude drugs that were obtained from five routes of four countries. It divided totally 119 samples to each purchase root, and summarized the quantitative analytical results with a focus on Cr, Co, As, Sb, and Hg, and found variations in the contents between the natures of the samples. A large amount of As was detected in two samples of 'Oriental bezoar' and 'Liushen pill,' which were purchased from China under doctors' prescriptions. As a result of the analysis of 47 plant samples purchased from Vietnam as the raw materials for Chinese medicines, a higher percentage of Hg was found compared with other samples. This fact suggests that Chinese medicines using medical herbs derived from plants are liable to contains not a little Hg. Large variations in the content of each sample suggest that the contents are dependent on the country of origin, as well as types and parts of plants. As for the samples purchased in Japan, the detected percentages of five target elements were the smallest. (A.O.)