Problem of accumulation of heavy metals in medicinal plants

Abstract

The article analyzes the content of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, copper and zinc) as priority environment pollutants as a result of human intervention, in samples of medicinal plants and soil of Mena district of Chernihiv region (Ukraine). The prospect of inversion voltammetry method for the analysis of heavy metals in medicinal plants as the highly sensitive method characterized by rapidity, good reproducibility and low equipment cost is demonstrated. A comparative analysis of the heavy metal content was carried out, bioaccumulation coefficients are calculated. It was revealed that concentration of lead and copper in the soil several times exceeds the admissible norms at the territories. It is shown that the content of copper, zinc and cadmium in the studied samples of medicinal plants doesn’t exceed admissible values, while the content of lead exceeds maximum permissible concentration for the Tanacétum vulgáre L. by 4,4 times, and by 4,8 times for Hypericum perforatum L. The smallest coefficients of accumulation in all studied samples of medicinal plants were observed for cadmium. The largest lead bio-accumulation coefficients are characteristic for Tanacétum vulgáre L. and Hypericum perforatum L., which indicates the need for plant raw materials control over the content of heavy metals.