Assessment of metals accumulation in Celtis tournefortii Lam and Prosopis farcta from Mazne sub-district, Kurdistan region of Iraq

A significant portion of the global population relies on medicinal plants as their primary source of healthcare. Therefore, it is crucial to ascertain the amount of heavy metal accumulated in these plants. In this study, 25 elements (Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Sulfur (S), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Selenium (Se), Cadmium (Cd), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Silver (Ag), Beryllium (Be), Strontium (Sr), Barium (Ba), Aluminum (Al), Lead (Pb), Bismuth (Bi), Rubidium (Rb), Boron (B), Arsenic (As), and Antimony (Sb)) were found in the leaves and fruit of C. tournefortii Lam, and in the pods and seeds of P. farcta , collected from the Mazne sub-district of Kurdistan in Iraq. The analysis was performed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). An exploratory study of samples was conducted using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The concentration of elements, quantified in parts per million (ppm) was as follows: Ca (3403-81948), Mg (1573-7578), Na (108-291), K (6481-23212), Fe (184-623), Cu (8-16), Zn (3-48), Se (0.5-33), Cd (0.11-0.40 ppm), V (1-3), Cr (2-25), Ni (2-4), Ag (0.5-1.7), Be (0.20-0.40), Sr (79.3-454), B (3-86), Al (100-738), Bi (0.7-2.30), Rb (1-7), B (0.7-2.3), As (0.1-3.9), Sb (6.60-12). All samples under investigation contained similar levels of K and Pb (218 and 1, respectively). The samples were divided into three major categories, as demonstrated by PCA and HCA. According to the findings, the fruit of C. tournefortii Lam is a source of Mg, K, Cu, Cd, Cr, Be, Sr, Ba, and Rb. The seeds of P. farcta had accumulated a significant level of S, Zn, Se, and Ni. Overall, the data suggest that use of these plants may pose potential health risks to humans due to the presence of certain heavy metals.