Heavy Metal and Bacteriological Contamination of Herbal Medicines Sold Over the Counter in the Municipality of WA of the Upper West Region-Ghana.

G.E. Sebiawu¹ , S. Antwi-Akomeah² , N.J. Mensah³ , D. Abana⁴

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.6 , Issue.5 , pp.15-23, May-2020

Online published on May 31, 2020

Copyright © G.E. Sebiawu, S. Antwi-Akomeah, N.J. Mensah, D. Abana . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Analysed in the present study was heavy metal and microbial presence in fifteen (15) different herbal drugs sold at various herbal and chemical licensed shops across the Wa municipality of Ghana. Levels of the metals- Fe, Pb, Zn and Cu were analysed using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Fe, Pb, Zn and Cu levels were below their respective WHO permissible limits. Fe emerged the most abundant metal, followed by Zn, Cu and Pb for all tested herbal drugs. Fe, Pb, Zn and Cu levels recorded respectively ranged from 1.530?0.007 to 6.774?0.012 ppm, 0.012?0.001 to 0.036?0.002 ppm, 0.935?0.008 to 3.612?0.006 ppm and 0.086?0.013 to 0.440?0.575 ppm. Microbiological analyses were performed by serial dilution and streak plating techniques. Total viable count was performed followed by isolation and enumeration of microbial species including Staphylococcus aureus, total coliforms and Salmonella, using appropriate selective media in each instance. Three (3) out of the fifteen (15) samples tested, representing 20% showed no microbial presence. The remaining twelve (12) samples representing 80% were found to contain microorganisms. They contained at most two (2) of the three (3) microbial species tested for their presence. Staphylococcus aureus emerged the most common microbial isolate being detected in six (6) out of the total samples tested (thus in 40% of samples). Total coliforms were detected in four (4) samples representing an estimated 27% whiles in three (3) of the samples tested, Salmonella spp. were detected (thus in 20% of samples).

Key-Words / Index Term :
Herbal medicines, Heavy metal contamination, Microbial contamination, Atomic absorption spectrophotometry, Wa Municipality

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