Pages: 7-11

Abstract

The present work was aimed to evaluate the level of heavy metals and medial lethal dose (LD50) of aqueous and hexane leaf extracts of Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) obtained from Kano State, Nigeria. The heavy metals analysis revealed that chromium, arsenic lead, cobalt and nickel were not detected, while only traces of copper (0.0322 ± 0.01 mg/kg), cadmium (0.0005 ± 0.00 mg/kg) and manganese (0.1208 ± 0.04 mg/kg) were detected. The LD50 of hexane and aqueous leaf extracts were estimated to be 2154.07 and 3807.89 mg/kg body weight respectively. The findings in this study showed that aqueous and hexane leaf extracts of A. annua were slightly toxic, while the levels of copper, cadmium and manganese detected did not exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limit for medicinal plant species.