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Ionizing radiation has been widely used for diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Nevertheless, radiation exposure may increase the risk of skin, cardiovascular system, hematological system, and metabolic disorders, and even the risk of cancers. Rational use of ionizing radiation improves prognosis and facilitates biomedical research, while misuse or overuse may result in serious consequences. Scientific and objective assessment of health hazards of medical radiation and establishment of effective protective interventions are of great importance to control the risk of radiation exposure. This article reviews the health hazards and protective measures of medical radiation.
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Background: Era’s one of the utmost scourges is air pollution, owing to not only its impact on climate change but also its impact on public and individual’s health due to combined morbidity and mortality. Objectives: The current study was intended to monitor the air quality data from two districts of Chhattisgarh, namely Raipur and Korba, so that policymakers will be able to take corrective measures to control individual’s health‑related issues associated with polluted air. Methods: All air samples were collected from around Raipur and Korba city of Chhattisgarh and submitted to the Chester LabNet, a laboratory based in 3 Oregon, USA, for analysis. Particulate matter (PM2.5) was determined by using the gravimetry technique and used the X‑ray fluorescence 4 technique to detect the presence of heavy metals. Results: PM2.5 levels in all samples in Raipur and Korba ranged from 131.4–653.8 µg/m3 to 150.3–1699.2 µg/m3 which is 2.18–10.88 and 2.5–28.3 times higher than standards prescribed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of 60 µg/m3 . Heavy metals such as silica (Si), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and manganese (Mn) levels were recorded higher than the standard level reported by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards in locations of Raipur and Korba, Chhattisgarh. Conclusion: Although Chhattisgarh, a state in Central India covered with 45% forest, but it is suffering from low air quality due to developing township and industrial area, which is causing a lot of commotion in the local community. At this time, the government should approach to take immediate action and measures to control air pollution and to reduce the terrible impact on the health of local citizens.
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Objective: There have been reports of health hazards caused by medical devices, cosmetics, quasi-drugs, daily necessities, hygiene products, etc. (health-related products) sold in pharmacies and drugstores. However, the role pharmacists play in dealing with the health hazards caused by health-related products has not been clarified. Therefore, we conducted a survey on the cases of health hazards related to health-related products and the views of pharmacists.Methods: A questionnaire was administered anonymously by email to 601 pharmacists working in community pharmacies or drugstores between December 11 and 20, 2019.Results: The number of valid responses was 585. The breakdown of health hazard cases where pharmacists counseled customers were 60 for medical devices, 31 for cosmetics, 18 for quasi-drugs, 9 for hygiene products, and 20 for daily necessities and others. Of those 138 cases, 19 cases of medical devices were estimated to have an intermediate risk as a health hazard, and the other 119 cases were all classified as low. Of the cases that the pharmacists were not approached for help, but were aware of, 57 were medical devices (21 high, 31 intermediate, 5 low), 44 were cosmetics (12 intermediate, 32 low), 12 were quasi-drugs (7 intermediate, 5 low), 7 were hygiene products (7 low), and 64 were daily necessities and others (26 high, 34 intermediate, 4 low). With regard to health-related products, 95% of the respondents indicated that they had responded to customer questions with advice.Conclusion: Our results show that there are various cases that could develop into health hazards due to health-related products, and most respondents felt a need to alert the public. As such, pharmacists and other staffs in drugstores will continue to provide health support functions to their customers by advising them on not only pharmaceuticals but also these health-related products.
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Antibiotic-resistance (AR) has become an alarming issue, posing threats to public health in terms of mortality and economic loss. The drivers of AR include environmental contamination from varied sources, ultimately making its way into our drinking water and food. Other factors include reckless use of antibiotics by the uneducated health workers, unhygienic situation of the hospitals, overconsumption and careless discharge of medicines by the general populace, injudicious use of antibiotics in the livestock, and indiscriminate disposal of untreated pharmaceutical wastes into the municipal water have caused several health hazards, such as “AR in infants,” respiratory disorders, and cancer. Furthermore, the sewage treatment process itself augments the antimicrobial resistance crisis. Hence, it is an alarming issue which must be taken care at the global level as well as the national level.
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Background: Smoking is practiced by a third of world’s population. Tobacco is leading cause of deaths world over. Six million people (1/8 second) die from tobacco each year. Objective of this study was to study demographic profile and awareness regarding tobacco smoking among people of Rohilkhand, Bareilly.Methods: Randomly selected individuals of Rohilkhand region. Questionnaire method involved.Results: Among 1040 sample size, 70% were males with mean age of 37.68 years. 73.94% population belonged to upper lower socio-economic class. 52% (62.9% male and 26.6% females) were current smokers of which 60.6% were exclusive beedi smokers. 50% were unaware of oral and lung cancer due to smoking. 34% were unaware about effects of passive smoking. 48.48% smokers report cough with expectoration as commonest symptom. 60% finds peer group influential for the behavior. 76.9% smokers are willing to quit smoking. 63.4% are open for counseling. 26% were unaware of ban/law related to smoking in public places. 68% believe there is increasing trend in prevalence of its use, among minors, educational institutes and hospitals.Conclusions: Despite high awareness of ill effects of smoking, there is an increasing trend in prevalence of smoking with an increased involvement of minors attributed to peer pressure. People are unaware of passive smoking and its harmful effect on body. Moreover, advertisements, visuals and captions have failed in making an impact. There occurs a need of awareness programmes, intervention sessions, medical therapy and strict anti-smoking laws by the government, social welfare and healthcare volunteers to help people quit and control the menace in society.
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Background: Computer Related Musculoskeletal disorders and Vision Syndrome (CRMSKVS) is defined as symptoms due to prolonged use of Visual Display Terminal (VDT).Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was done among office-workers working on computer terminal. A self-reported questionnaire was distributed and Musculoskeletal (MSK) and visual symptoms in the preceding 12 months (01 October 2017 to 30 September 2018) were taken as dependent variable. Multivariate analysis was done to identify the determinants of CRMSKVS.Results: Responses from 1193 subjects were included in the study. CRMSKVS was present in 489 cases (40.98%; males - 37.5%, females - 58.29%). The main MSK symptoms were pain/stiffness in neck (40.98%), shoulder (38.99%), lower back (35.6%) and elbow/wrist/hand/fingers (23.1%). The ocular symptoms were excessive watering (39.6%), pain (24.99), irritation (18.6%), burning/itching sensation (29.8%), redness (40.7%), blurring of vision (13.2%) and headache (40.9%). Female gender (OR-1.498(1.262-1.778)), long duration of working hours (OR-2.77(2.399-3.214)), poor break duration (OR-2.59(2.172-3.089)), excessive smart phone use (OR-2.071(1.834-2.338)), poor posture (OR-3.883(3.282-4.592)), inappropriate distance of computer screen (OR-2.173(1.829-2.582)), low height of screen (OR-1.936(1.527-2.454)), distance of keyboard (OR-3.161(2.528-3.953)) and distance of mouse (OR-5.785(3.932-8.512)) were identified as significant determinants of CRMSKVS.Conclusions: CRMSKVS is an emerging pandemic which needs urgent attention by medical and administrative authorities. The device factors, personal factors, environmental and ergonomic factors are the modifiable risk factors for CRMSKVS.
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The readymade garment (RMG) industry is a key sector of Bangladesh economy. This sector brings in about 78% of the country’s total merchandize export earnings. More than 3.2 million people are working in this sector and mostly females from underprivileged social classes.Employment in this Ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh provides workers with economic benefits and some empowerment. A descriptive cross-sectional study followed by a qualitative approach was utilized. Through proportionate quota sampling, 560 garments workers were recruited from 6(one large, two medium, and three small) garment factories in Mirpur area of Dhaka city.Almost all of the garments workers knew that both smoking and smokeless tobacco (98.4%) is harmful for health. Knowledge on specific health hazards of smoking (96.96%) tobacco was relatively higher than those of smokeless (90%) tobacco. Electronic media (Radio/TV/Cinema) was themost common source of their knowledge (92.9%). In case of smoking tobacco, cancer (63.6%) was the mostly reported disease caused by smoking tobacco, followed by lung cancer (15.7%) and heart attack (11.3%). On the other hand, for smokeless tobacco, cancer (29.8%), followed by oral cancer (26.6%) and lung cancer (15.0%) was mostly reported diseases by the garments workers. Garment workers’ knowledge on tobacco control policy was found to be very low. Only 35.0% knew about the policy. Although few garments workers know about the rules for prohibition of tobacco product in public place (25.7%) and public transport (11.3%), other specific rules under tobacco control policy were not known to majority of them. The present study provides a scientific base regarding current tobacco using practice among garments workers in Dhaka city and their knowledge and attitude towards tobacco. Finding revealed from qualitative analysis of data suggested that now-a-days smoking is considered as a trend; people have to smoke for showing smartness or to maintain social status. Peer influence also plays an important role for initiating and maintaining smoking status. Socio-cultural influence for smokeless tobacco consumption was not well documented by this study which indicated a need for more focused qualitative study.
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Background: The occupational safety and health scenario in India is complex. The working class are victims of different occupational disorders and psychosocial stresses cause being poverty, lack of education, poor working conditions, excess working hours, etc. The morbidities include musculoskeletal disorders, generalized weakness, heart burn, endocrine disorders, injuries, etc. Hence, the present study was conducted to list the occupational health hazards of the working class of factories in an industrial area of Bangalore.Methods: The study was conducted in various factories of an industrial area in Bangalore. Socio-demographic profile, health hazards, stress, quality of life and DALY of the study subjects was assessed using a standard, pre-structured proforma. Descriptive statistics like mean and percentages was used for data analysis.Results: 384 subjects were included in the study. Majority being males i.e. 322 (86.4%) and aged 31 to 40 years, educated upto high school i.e. 342 (89%). The most commonly seen morbidities are diabetes mellitus (4.4%), hypertension (3.6%). Among the study subjects, 77% had no stress, 12.1% had mild stress and 10.7% had moderate level of stress. On assessing the quality of life, it was found that 83.5% were in good physical health, 77.6% had pain and symptoms, 96.8% were satisfied with their social relations and DALY assessment showed that diabetes was responsible for 28.42 years of life lost due to disability.Conclusions: Majority of them had no stress and diabetes was the most commonly seen morbidity.
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Objective: Mobile technology has influenced the way of living across all segments of society and has raisedconcern about its electromagnetic waves. Hence, the present study gives emphasis on investigating the pattern ofmobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students and their perception and awareness regardingnegative health effects due to excessive exposure of electromagnetic waves.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 170 UG students of PDU Govt. Medical College, Rajkot,Gujarat, India. Data were collected by pre-tested questionnaire in Google form and analysed using MS Excelsoftware.Results: Out of total students participated in the study, 103 were males and 67 were females; Average time spentusing mobile phones was 3.75 hours/day; 51.2% students kept their mobile phone ON during lecture; 75.9% alsostated that they were aware of health hazards due to exposure to electromagnetic waves; 27.6% students agreedthat their sleep is suffered due to use of mobile phone.Conclusion: the outcomes of this study confirms that there is excessive use of mobile phone among medicalstudents. Regulatory bodies should form some specific regulations and guidelines regarding mobile phoneusage in classroom. Further, it is also required to anticipate long term health hazards considering its overuseamong young adults
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Objective@#To investigate the characteristics of occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the workplace and for various types of work in a carbon enterprise based on the measurement data of various components of PAHs in the air from the workplace of the carbon enterprise, and to provide a scientific basis for protection against PAHs in this enterprise.@*Methods@#In July 2017, a carbon enterprise in Shandong Province and its on-duty workers were chosen as subjects. On-site occupational hygiene investigation and high-performance liquid chromatography were used to investigate and determine the presence and concentrations of PAHs in various workshops and various types of work in the enterprise, and toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) was used to evaluate the carcinogenic level of PAHs.@*Results@#The components of PAHs with relatively high content in the air of the workplace in the carbon enterprise were fluoranthene, pyrene, benzanthracene, X, and benzo[a]pyrene, with mean concentrations of 1 485.66, 864.66, 805.35, 500.08, and 120.88 ng/m3, respectively. There were significant differences between the three workshops in the concentrations of PAHs components (benzo[a]pyrene, benzanthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, X, fluoranthene, pyrene, fluorene, indenopyrene, and anthracene) and total TEQ (P<0.05) . The total TEQ of PAHs in the molding workshop was significantly higher than that in other workshops (P<0.05) . There were significant differences between different types of work in the exposure to pyrene and fluoranthene and TEQ (P<0.05) . Shaking-table operators, moving-sieve operators, batching operators, fabric workers, and hot-oil stove workers had higher exposure levels of PAHs. The exposure concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene and benzanthracene were highly correlated with total TEQ.@*Conclusion@#The concentration of PAHs in the working environment of the carbon enterprise is generally higher; benzo[a]pyrene and fluoranthene are the PAHs components against which special protective measures need to be taken; molding workshops are the workshops that are most seriously endangered by PAHs; shaking-table operators are the type of workers needing special protection against PAHs. The occupational hazards of PAHs in the carbon industry cannot be ignored, against which corresponding protective measures should be formulated based on their exposure characteristics.
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Objective@#To explore the applicability of Singapore semi-quantitative assessment method and international committee on mining and metals occupational health risk assessment method in occupational health risk assessment of ceramic enterprises.@*Methods@#From March 2017 to May 2018, A ceramic enterprise was selected for the investigation and testing of occupational health, and the risk assessment of the occupational-disease-inductive factors in the workplace was conducted by the semi-quantitative assessment method of Singapore and the occupational health risk assessment method of the international committee on mining and metals.@*Results@#The occupational-disease-inductive factors in the production process of this ceramic enterprise mainly include silicon dust, noise, high temperature, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and so on. The two risk assessment methods were applied to assess the risk of occupational-disease-inductive factors in the workplace, and the results showed that the high risk level was 16.67%, the medium risk level was 63.33%, and the low risk level was 20.00%. The risk level of silicon dust is from low risk to high risk.@*Conclusion@#The semi-quantitative assessment method and the occupational health risk assessment method of the International Commission on Mining and Metals are simple to operate and practical, and are suitable for the assessment of occupational hazards in ceramic enterprises.
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BACKGROUND@#Food safety in the food market is one of the key areas of focus in public health, because it affects people of every age, race, gender, and income level around the world. The local and international food marketing continues to have significant impacts on food safety and health of the public. Food supply chains now cross multiple national borders which increase the internationalization of health risks. This systematic review of literature was, therefore, conducted to identify common public health risks related to food safety issues in the food market.@*METHODS@#All published and unpublished quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies were searched from electronic databases using a three step searching. Analytical framework was developed using the PICo (population, phenomena of interest, and context) method. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) version 2018. The included full-text articles were qualitatively analyzed using emergent thematic analysis approach to identify key concepts and coded them into related non-mutually exclusive themes. We then synthesized each theme by comparing the discussion and conclusion of the included articles. Emergent themes were identified based on meticulous and systematic reading. Coding and interpreting the data were refined during analysis.@*RESULTS@#The analysis of 81 full-text articles resulted in seven common public health risks related with food safety in the food market. Microbial contamination of foods, chemical contamination of foods, food adulteration, misuse of food additives, mislabeling, genetically modified foods (GM foods), and outdated foods or foods past their use-by dates were the identified food safety-related public health risks in the food market.@*CONCLUSION@#This systematic literature review identified common food safety-related public health risks in the food market. The results imply that the local and international food marketing continues to have significant impacts on health of the public. The food market increases internationalization of health risks as the food supply chains cross multiple national borders. Therefore, effective national risk-based food control systems are essential to protect the health and safety of the public. Countries need also assure the safety and quality of their foods entering international trade and ensure that imported foods conform to national requirements.
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BACKGROUND: The understanding of the relationship between risk perception, knowledge, and protective behaviors could play a major role in occupational risk control and management. Research exploring how workers perceive, recognize, and react to risks in different occupational settings is scarce in Thailand. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of noise-related risk perceptions and knowledge to the use of hearing protective devices (HPDs) among sawmill workers in Thailand. METHODS: Sawmill workers (n = 540) from four factories in Trang, Southern Thailand, participated in a questionnaire interview from December 2015 to January 2016. Descriptive statistics and linear regression models were used to explore the risk factors related to HPD use. Path diagram analysis was demonstrated and used to evaluate associations. RESULTS: Risk perception was significantly correlated with HPD use (p < 0.01), HPD training (p = 0.01), and the number of years of work experience (p = 0.03). Sawmill workers were likely to use HPDs based on their risk perception and HPD training. However, HPD training was inversely correlated with age and the number of years of work experience. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of risk perceptions and knowledge, and these factors should be emphasized in the design and implementation of any personal safety intervention program for sawmill workers.
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Humanos , Dispositivos de Protección de los Oídos , Audición , Modelos Lineales , Factores de Riesgo , Goma , Tailandia , MaderaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the health status of workers exposed to 7-aminocephalosporanic acid( 7-ACA) and6-aminopenicillanic acid( 6-APA) in an antibiotics enterprise. METHODS: Using simple random sampling method,207 workers exposed to 7-ACA and 6-APA from an antibiotic production enterprise were selected as the exposed group,and 162 workers with no dust exposure history from the same antibiotic production enterprise were selected as control group. Health examinations were performed. The health status of the workers were analyzed. RESULTS: The detection of symptoms( chest distress,shortness of breath,cough,wheezing,itchy skin) and allergic diseases( bronchial asthma,allergic rhinitis,allergic dermatitis) in exposed group were higher than those in control group( P < 0. 05). The lung function indexes such as forced vital capacity( FVC),forced expiratory volume in first second( FEV1) and FEV1/ FVC in the exposed group were lower than those in control group( P < 0. 05). There was no significant difference in the lung function indexes,respiratory and skin allergy symptoms,and allergic diseases between 7-ACA subgroup and 6-APA subgroup( P < 0. 017).The incidence of bronchial asthma,allergic rhinitis had statistical differences in the length of dust exposure in service workers( P < 0. 05). CONCLUSION: Workers exposed to 7-ACA and 6-APA have a high occurrence rate of respiratory symptoms. These workers also suffered from occupational diseases such as bronchial asthma,allergic rhinitis and others.
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Concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Fe in the street dust from Camagüey city were studied by X-ray .uorescence analysis. The mean Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb contents in the urban dust samples (97 ± 30, 14 ± 2, 35 ± 36, 94 ± 26, 199 ± 87 and 42 ± 29 mg.kg-1 dry weight, respectively) were compared with mean concentrations in other cities around the world. Spatial distribution maps indicated the same behaviour for Cr-Ni and Pb-Zn-Cu, respectively, whereas the spatial distribution of Co differs from other heavy metals. The metal-to-iron normalization, using Cuban average metal soil contents as background, showed that street dusts from Camagüey city are moderately or significantly Zn-Pb enriched in those areas associated with heavy traffic density and metallurgic plant location. However, the calculation of the potential ecological risk index shows that metal content in Camagüey street dust does not represent any risk for the city population.
Se determinan por fluorescencia de rayos X las concentraciones de Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn y Pb en los polvos urbanos de la ciudad de Camagüey. Los contenidos medios de metales pesados en las muestras de polvos urbanos (97 ± 30, 14 ± 2, 35 ± 36, 94 ± 26, 199 ± 87 y 42 ± 29 mg.kg-1 en peso seco respectivamente) son comparados con las concentraciones medias determinadas en otras ciudades del mundo. Los mapas de distribución espacial indican comportamientos similares para Cr-Ni y Pb-Zn-Cu respectivamente, en tanto la distribución espacial de Co difiere del resto de los metales. La normalización a un metal de referencia, empleando como fondo los valores medios de concentraciones de metales pesados cubanos, mostró que los polvos urbanos de la ciudad de Camagüey tienen un enriquecimiento moderado o significativo de Zn y Pb en aquellas áreas que están asociadas a una elevada densidad del tráfico automotor y a la ubicación de plantas metalúrgicas. El cálculo del índice de riesgo ecológico potencial mostró que el contenido de metales pesados en los polvos urbanos de Camagüey no representa riesgo alguno para su población.
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Radiofrequency waves generated from mobile phones cause potential public health problems. Short-term effects like changes in sleep, heart rate, and blood pressure, and long-term effects like carcinoma are well documented. The Government of India’s efforts in laying down regulations regarding the safety limits, manufacture, marketing, and mobile use are still in nascent stage. The need for stringent enforcement of laws for prevention of phone usage while driving and guidelines of medical regulatory bodies regarding rules and regulations of phone usage while at class or attending patients is of utmost importance. This should be supplemented by mass media to raise awareness among people regarding the possible health effects of radiofrequency emissions from mobile phones and the guidelines to minimize its exposure. It is the need of the hour to teach young people to be structured, to know when to have the cell phone on, and to avoid becoming the slave of technology instead of its mastery.
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Background: Like in any profession, dentistry is also plagued by many occupational health hazards. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and mental health related issues are very common among dental practitioners. Objectives: A survey was conducted to find the prevalence of these two occupational health hazards among dental practitioners in Bengaluru city. Materials and methods: A questionnaire survey was carried out among 150 randomly chosen dental practitioners in Bengaluru. Questions included their identification details and information about symptoms of MSD and mental health related issues experienced by them in the last 6 months. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was carried out in the present study. Chi-square and Fisher test were used to find the significance of the study parameters on categorical scale. Results: MSD and mental health related issues were found to have a prevalence of 82% and 75.3% in our study. Conclusion: The implementation of preventive measures is necessary, in view of the high incidence of these disorders in the fraternity of dental practitioners.
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Health professionals play a vital role in improving and restoring health status of the community. Quality of care, patient safety and patient satisfaction depend on their performance. Job dissatisfaction, poor quality of life and they themselves being unhealthy have signifi cant impact on performance and commitment of health professionals. Therefore a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine health hazard, job satisfaction and quality of life of Myanmar health professionals during the period of February and March, 2014. Altogether 142 subjects (97 medical doctors and 45 nurses) working in government hospitals situated in Mandalay City were recruited after getting informed consent. This study found out that overall, very few health professionals were regular smokers (2.1%) and betel chewers (1.4%). There were no regular alcohol drinkers. However, among the male medical doctors12% and 8% were found to be regular smokers and betel nut chewers, respectively. Reading (58.5%) and watching movie (43.9%) are the most common recreational activities. About half (45.8%) of the subjects reported to have encountered injury either during an operation or while giving injections to patients. Such injury was reported in spite of 92.8% of all the respondents reporting to have followed universal safety precaution measures. In addition 67.6% reported that they did not have enough income and 21.1% reported not to be having adequate sleeping hours. In general 53% did not have job satisfaction. The reasons given for this were low salary (66.7%) and overwork (61.3%). However, most of the subjects (about 80%) fell into average levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Only 1% of the respondents were at low level of compassion satisfaction and high level of secondary traumatic stress. No respondent was at high level of burnout scale. Insuffi cient income was found to be major determinant of job satisfaction and quality of life of Myanmar health professionals (p < 0.01). There was significant relationship between job satisfaction and quality of life, especially burnout (p = 0.008). There is urgent need to address the problem of lacking job satisfaction through giving enough income and increasing manpower to reduce workload in hospitals. Strict adherence to universal precaution by health professionals should be reviewed and reinforced.
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Administración Hospitalaria , HospitalesRESUMEN
Interest in the use of medicinal plants in treatment of diseases in Africa has increased tremendously over the past decade. Ingestion of contaminated medicinal plants and herbal medicinal products is regarded as potential source of heavy metal toxicity to both man and animals. Heavy metals are often not well defined in medicine, but include all toxic metals. They are released into the environment by both natural and a variety of anthropogenic sources. The presence of heavy metals in plant tissues is primarily dependent upon their availability and concentration in the soil. They can also be deposited directly on plant surfaces from the atmosphere. Heavy metals are persistent in nature due to their long biological half-life. The major heavy metals of health concern are arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. They are the redox inactive metals and show their toxic effects via bonding to sulphydryl groups of proteins and depletion of glutathione - an antioxidant. In order to ensure quality and safety of herbal drugs, cultivation and collection of medicinal plants in the immediate vicinity of industrial sites which utilize these metals and their compounds, and sites where these metals have been improperly disposed is highly discouraged; because plants from these areas are prone to high concentration of heavy metals, hence, increases human risk of contamination when taken. In addition screening of plant extracts, herbal medicinal products and medicinal plants at large, for heavy metal contamination is of highly medical importance and must be given maximum attention in phytotherapy.