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The Content of Mercury in Herbal Dietary Supplements

Overview of attention for article published in Biological Trace Element Research, January 2018
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Title
The Content of Mercury in Herbal Dietary Supplements
Published in
Biological Trace Element Research, January 2018
DOI 10.1007/s12011-018-1240-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Barbara Brodziak-Dopierała, Agnieszka Fischer, Wioletta Szczelina, Jerzy Stojko

Abstract

The dietary supplement market in Poland has been growing rapidly, and the number of registered products and their consumption increases steadily. Among the most popular and the easiest to get are herbal supplements, available in any supermarket. The aim of this paper was to investigate the mercury content in the herbal supplements. The dietary supplements that have been examined (24) are available on the Polish market and contain one or more herbal ingredients. Supplements were pulverized in porcelain mortar and identified by AMA 254 atomic absorption spectrometer. The range of variations for all tested supplements was within 0.02-4293.07 μg/kg. The arithmetic mean of the total result was 193.77 μg/kg. A higher mercury content then this mean was found in preparations-bamboo shoots and alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa. The studies have shown that mercury is present in every examined herbal supplement, and its content exceeds in two preparations (with bamboo and alga) the permissible limit of 0.10 mg/kg. There were statistically significant differences in the occurrence of mercury depending on the herbal ingredient in the supplement. The lowest content was found in the preparation with Tanacetum parthenium and the highest with bamboo shoots. The mercury content in the tested herbal supplements was statistically significant in the form of a supplement-a tablet and a capsule. Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly consumption of mercury with examined supplements was calculated-the results did not exceed the PTWI-provisional tolerable weekly intake of mercury. To increase consumer safety, it is imperative to conduct further research on dietary supplements and implement a stricter quality control of the dietary supplements.

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The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 29 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 29 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 5 17%
Professor > Associate Professor 3 10%
Student > Ph. D. Student 2 7%
Lecturer 1 3%
Student > Bachelor 1 3%
Other 4 14%
Unknown 13 45%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 4 14%
Environmental Science 3 10%
Chemistry 2 7%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 7%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2 7%
Other 3 10%
Unknown 13 45%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 March 2018.
All research outputs
#18,594,219
of 23,031,582 outputs
Outputs from Biological Trace Element Research
#1,340
of 2,054 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#330,835
of 441,908 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Biological Trace Element Research
#8
of 18 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,031,582 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,054 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.7. This one is in the 22nd percentile – i.e., 22% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 441,908 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 14th percentile – i.e., 14% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 18 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 33rd percentile – i.e., 33% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.