Lead and mercury levels in people treated with natural products as medical treatment in the city of Merida, Venezuela

The usual sources of heavy metals such as Lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) in the general population derive from water, seafood and environmental. However, nowadays the use of natural products for therapeutic purposes have resulted in other source of exposure to these metals, mainly because these products have had a steady increase in the market of drugs, as an alternative therapy for various diseases. In fact, in United Kingdom, United States, Malaysia and Pakistan, herbal medicines have been regarded as the leading cause of heavy metal poisoning, behind that occurring due to occupational exposure. For that reason, in this work, a pilot study was carried out to establish the association between intake of natural products as medical treatment and the levels of heavy metals in urine, in particular lead and mercury. The analysis of samples coming from the studied people showed levels of Pb and Hg within those permissible in humans. Although the results did not support the proposed hypothesis, it was concluded that is pertinent to perform a larger study on the topic with the purpose of obtaining information from a wider variety of natural products and in a more diverse population.