Nowadays, almost all traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) raw materials are planted and grown in soil of China, except those from animal, insect and marine sources. The contaminations of heavy metals are getting worst in soli because the fast developments of the process of industrialization in China. Different kinds of heavy metals and trace elements in soil will be absorbed through the root and distributed to the parts of stem, leaf, flower and fruit parts during the growth of plants. However, researches has also shown that TCM materials from marine sources, such as cuttlebone (Hai Piao Xiao), with a trend of higher heavy metal contaminations due to the exhaust and wastewater from the boats and ships. Therefore, analysis of heavy metals and trace elements in TCM raw materials and Chinese herbal medicines is an important issue at present. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was commonly used for analysis of heavy metals and trace elements at the early stage, but the problems were less analysis elements and longer analysis time. In 2004, Sun Ten Pharmaceutical originally applied the ICP/MS to analyze the heavy metals and trace elements of TCM raw materials and Chinese herbal medicines in Taiwan and published the related analysis methods in the Journal of Separation Science in 2006. In this analysis method, 70 kinds of trace elements and heavy metals (such as As, Cr, Hg, Pb, Cu, Cd) can be simultaneously analyzed in the test sample. In the Multiple Analysis Platform for Chinese Herbal Medicine (MAPCHM), ICP/MS can not only be used to analyze the toxic heavy metals, but also to the important trace elements for human, such as Na, K and Ca. At present, several kinds of Chinese herbal medicines have been already analyzed through the ICP/MS analysis system. By using the platform, heavy metals and trace elements can be fully analyzed in TCM raw materials and Chinese herbal medicines.
