Determination of the Levels of Selected Heavy Metals in Lepidium Sativum Seed Using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS)
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Date
2024-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Traditional medicines have been used thousands of years with a great contribution made by human practice. One of the important traditional medicinal plant is Lepidium sativum or fetto in Amharic belonging to mustard family. The levels of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) in Lepidium sativum were determined. The mean concentrations or levels of heavy and trace metals, Zn, Cd, and Pb in the seed of the selected medicinal plant were found to be (in mg/L) 0.6874±0.0029, 0.0094±0.0028, and 0.3695±0.0013 respectively. The mean concentration of metals obtained in the sample were in the order of Zn>Pb> Cd. The concentrations of these trace metals were relatively higher than the maximum allowable concentration given by WHO. But the remaining three metals (Cr, Ni, and Cu) were below detection limit. Furthermore, monitoring such medicinal plants for heavy and trace metals concentrations is of great importance in protecting the community from the adverse effects of the heavy metals.
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Keywords
Adverse Effects, FAAS, Heavy Metals, Lepidium Sativum and Medicinal Plant