Determination of Heavy Metal Levels in Echium italicum L. Plants

Plants and their components have maintained importance in human life as medicinal and aromatic ingredients that have been used by people for many centuries. Nature is the chief source of these valuable resources and humans use these plants directly after collection from their habitat. Therefore, the places where such plants grow have become highly important for understanding the role and behaviour of the accumulation of various elements, especially heavy metals. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of heavy metals in Echium italicum L. plants collected from seven different locations in the province of Sivas in Northern Turkey. Heavy metal pollution was determined in the analysis of the plants. A significant difference was observed in the amounts of heavy metals between plants growing in areas with high vehicle traffic and in the plants growing in low traffic areas. This is of great importance for medical and aromatic plants, which are usually collected from areas of natural growth. Therefore, when these plants are collected from the wild, low traffic areas should be selected.