Determination of trace heavy metals Content of various herbal drinks marketed in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria

The study encompasses an evaluation of the health risk and hazard profiles of heavy metals contents in various herbal drinks (AGBO) products marketed in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. Twenty (20) herbal drinks samples from four (4) different study (saw-mil, Osere, Oja-oba and Oke-odo) areas were collected randomly, digested and analyzed. Zinc, Lead, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Cadmium, Chromium and Nickel were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. The results of this study indicated that most of the heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cu and Mn) in the herbal drinks were below the WHO recommended permissible limits. Chromium (Cr) and Cadmium (Cd) are not detected in all of the herbal drinks analyzed. However, sample C2 and D2 among other analyzed herbal samples contained unsafe concentrations of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) that exceeded the WHO recommended permissible limits. From the health point of view, the EDIs value of all the herbal drinks are below the daily reference dose. The non-cancerous (HQ) and hazard index (HI) value of all the herbal samples are less than one (1). Based on the results obtained in this study, there would be a non-carcinogenic health risk and hazard effects to the people taking and consuming the herbal drinks marketed in all the study areas.