title: The heavy metals cadmium, lead and mercury in raw materials of animal origin: evaluation of data from practice.
abstract: Raw materials from animal origin are widely used in homoeopathy. Due to the lack of dedicated limits, the quality requirements for herbal drugs of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) and/or the German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia (Homöopathisches Arzneibuch, HAB), including limits for heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury, have been applied. A recent database evaluation shows that for some raw materials of animal origin the Ph. Eur. limits for herbal drugs cannot be met in practice. For this reason proposals for new limits for cadmium, lead and mercury are made based on recent experiences from the companies' daily practice. These specific limits are suggested to be included in the individual monographs of the Ph. Eur. or at least the German HAB, respectively, for Ambra grisea, Euspongia officinalis, Formica rufa and Sepia officinalis.
authors.affiliation: Deutsche Homöopathie-Union GmbH & Co. KG, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.affiliation: WALA Heilmittel GmbH, Bad Boll-Eckwälden, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knödler
authors.affiliation: Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, Baden-Baden, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kühn
authors.affiliation: Homöopathisches Laboratorium A. Pflüger GmbH & Co. KG, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lipinski
authors.affiliation: Bundesverband der Arzneimittel-Hersteller e.V. (BAH), Bonn, Germany, steinhoff@bah-bonn.de.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steinhoff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000592:standards*; D005060:Europe; D005399:Fishes; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D010602:Pharmacopoeias as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D008628:Mercury
keywords: European Pharmacopoeia; Euspongia officinalis; Formica rufa; German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia; Physeter macrocephalus/Ambra grisea; Sepia officinalis; cadmium (Cd); heavy metals; homoeopathy; lead (Pb); mercury (Hg); raw materials of animal origin