Mercury（Hg）, mainly in cinnabar species, has been used in medicine for thousands of years in China, and worldwide concern has been raised on its toxicity. In this work, the amount of bioaccessible mercury in 16 Chinese patent medicines（CPMs） was measured by using an in vitro simulated digestion system, consisting of simulated gastric and intestinal fluid, to investigate the bioavailability of mercury in CPMs and evaluate its potential risk to human health. Total mercury and mercury in the gastrointestinal extracts were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry（ICP-MS）. The levels of total Hg in 16 CPMs ranged from not detected to 11.89 mg/g, with a mean value of 1.13 mg/g, while the extractable Hg ranged from not detected to 4.37 μg/g, with a mean value of 0.42 μg/g.Mercury bioaccessibility varied significantly in the investigated CPMs, depending on the ingredient. Compared to the CPMs without cinnabar（2.5%–30.9%）, the percentage of mercury in the gastrointestinal supernatants for CPMs with cinnabar was quite a bit lower（0.037%）. By comparing with the Food and Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives（FAO/WHO） safety guideline, the average daily intake dose（ADD） of Hg in the medicines was then calculated to access the risk of mercury to human health from taking CPMs.
Heavy metal pollution is one of the most serious environmental problems in China and a large number of people are threatened by heavy metal pollution.Extensive damage to human organs,such as liver,kidney,digestion system,and nervous system can be caused by uptake of excess heavy metals.Heavy metals in the environment can originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources.Although contamination of heavy metals has been known to be a severe environmental problem for decades,it is still getting worse in recent years and there are few feasible approaches to resolve this problem.Due to their high toxicity,prevalent existence and persistence in the environment,lead(Pb),mercury(Hg),cadmium(Cd),chromium(Cr) and arsenic(As) are commonly considered as the priority heavy metals which should be concerned and their emission should be controlled in China.This paper reviewed the pollution of heavy metals in China,focusing on the following four aspects:current status of heavy metal pollution in China,sources of heavy metals in China,toxicity and potential risk,and possible reduction strategies.
