Analysis of heavy metals in Pseudostellaria heterophylla in Baiyi Country of Wudang District

To understand the correlation between the contents of five heavy metals (including arsenic, As; cadmium, Cd; copper, Cu; mercury, Hg; and lead, Pb) and Pseudostellaria heterophylla quality in Baiyi Country of Wudang District, nine samples of P. heterophylla and planting soil were collected in the research area. After pre-treatment, the samples were sent to ALS Minerals–ALS Chemex (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine their heavy metal contents. The average contents of the heavy metals in P. heterophylla are not higher than the limited standard value (LSV) of the heavy metals, and they generally conform to quality requirements. Except for Cd, the bioconcentration factors ( BFs ) of the heavy metals are not higher than 0.5, and those for Pb and As are especially low. Cd is slightly enriched in P. heterophylla and the other heavy metals are not. There is a significant positive correlation between the Cu and As in planting soil, a more significant positive correlation among of As, Cd and Pb in P. heterophylla , and the correlations among the other elements are not significant. The levels of enrichment of As, Cd, Cu and Pb contents are very severe, minor, not enriched and moderate in planting soil, respectively. As and Pb are mainly derived from anthropogenic activities. In particular, very severe As pollution by anthropogenic sources occurs. In addition, Cd and Cu are mainly from naturally occurring sources, and Cd may be impacted by anthropogenic activities.