“Consuming raw herbs that contain heavy metals can pose serious health risks. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium can easily accumulate in the body over time, causing various health issues, including organ damage and central nervous system related problems. Frequent testing of herbs for heavy metal contamination and seeking guidance from healthcare professionals are of important to mitigate these risks. Laboratory Technologist also warned that excessive intake of herbal concoctions could lead to many devastating kidney and liver problems”- Ekundayo Gbenga
-March 2, 2024
Investigation-What has become a norm in Nigeria today, is the self-help remedy of ailment by locals, and even some intellectuals. This is due to the general beliefs of failures of the country’s Health Care delivery system.
In fact, the deteriorating Primary health care system in the country has led many to their early grave. When the late Professor Ransome Kuti was appointed the Minister of Health in 1985, he adopted the PHC, to help the country but after his death, the PHC system collapsed and meaningful efforts has not been made to better health care except in few occasions . Now most poor Nigerians cannot afford basic health care treatment, but resolved to local herbs as an alternative.
And that is why there are so many herbal concoction’s street hawking in the name of healthy remedy, even as there is no regulation, as hawkers feeds million of Nigerians with Lead, Cadmium and other dangerous compounds on a daily basis.
In this investigation carried out by Ojo Gbenga Nicholas, he detailed his findings on why some herbal concoctions are more prevalent among millions of Nigerians, resulting to various complications, such as Heart Disease, Cancer, Dementia, Neurological Disorder, among others resulting to result death. His report.
Herbal concoction has now become a celebrated fad, that the young and the old cannot do without. The educated and uneducated relish it with reckless abandon, even the female folks also savour its intoxicating high, under the guise of treating ailments. Herbal concoctions are prepared from a mixture of plants’ roots, barks and leaves, which are either soaked in water or alcohol.
It is believed herbal concoctions are most commonly taken by indigent people as remedy for malaria fever, backache, sexual enhancement and all kinds of ailments.
The World Health Organisation estimates that about 80 per cent of the population in developing countries still depend on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs.
According to WHO, many Nigerians, especially in the South-West region, “believe and rely on local herbs for medication” as against orthodox (or modern) medicine.
Mr. Ojo in his five months investigation in different states in Nigeria revealed that the effect of herbal concoction on youths is fast becoming dangerous not only to them but the entire country, and if urgent steps are not taking to addressing it, its long term effect will be more harmful.
The extensive use of plants as medicines has pointed out that herbal medicines are not as safe as frequently claimed. Therefore, it can be harmful to take herbal medicines without being aware of their potential adverse effects.
Despite the reported widespread use of herbal medicines globally and their benefits, they are not completely without potential to cause harm. The haphazard, irresponsible or non-regulated use of several herbal medicines may put the health of their users at risk of toxicity.
Nigerians appear to be ignorant of its potential toxicities. It is necessary to evaluate the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal medicines and their products through randomised clinical trial studies.
Youths’ Involvement
The concoction popularly known as “Agbo,” comes in different names and types such as Shepe, Jedi, Malaria, Opa-eyin, Alee, Dongoyaro and many more.
The “Jedi” is the most frequently used mixture, followed by “Opa Eyin,” “Malaria” and it is considered safe by half of those who experienced mild to moderate adverse effects. Millions of youth walk to junction or joints daily especially in the morning and evening to drink these mixtures, while some patronizes ladies that hawk them on the street. Meanwhile, some of the regular consumers gave reasons why they drink the concoction and how it cleanse their body systems but little do they know about the danger attached to it.
The Street Hawkers
Thousands of Yoruba women and girls are invading other regions in Nigeria daily just to sell this agbo. There is no city, town or village in Nigeria now where you won’t find these women and girls in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, hawking agbo with their grimy bowls.
Despite the large numbers already in towns, many more are arriving on a daily basis. Five to ten girls can be serving a particular merchant who brought them from villages and be using them to hawk the herbal concoctions in the city without proper training.
A top security source confirmed that some of the girls do not just carry around only the concoction but also involved in orthodox medicine dealings.
“Somebody hinted me that this people are not carrying only Agbo, so I pretended to be also interested in buying their other products. I discovered that in all that they are carrying, there are orthodox medicine. These are aphrodisiac that are smuggled into the country by some syndicates. The so called Agbo have combine other medicines, which make it more dangerous.
“I have arrested some of them in Adamawa, Kebbi and Lagos State. While some of them are prostitute in disguise,” the source added.
One of the traders popularly known as Mariam alagbo in Kubwa, Abuja explained that they have an association and are properly registered with the government. She said the association also pays dues to the government account yearly. She lamented that some of the traders were not registered members of their association.
“We have an association properly registered with government. We pay dues to the association while the association also pay dues into government account yearly. Most of the girls on the street are not members, but the association itself doesn’t care because all it after is money,” she said.
A merchant with one of the biggest “agbo” shops in Delta State said some of the young girls are not always patient to learn saying there are some quacks among them selling herbs, especially from the girls hawking.
According to her: “I was born into this business, and I took my time to go through all the process of learning. But you see, some of the young girls of nowadays are not always patient to learn whatever they want to do very well.
“Just the way there are quack medical doctors; that is how we also have some quacks among us selling herbs, especially from the girls hawking. Some of them are not trained and they did not learn the job. They just jumped into the trade for hustling sake.
“I don’t always encourage herbs with alcohol mixture, because it’s always difficult to get original and less expensive ethanol to mix it,” she said.
Adulterated Alcohol
The investigation also revealed that some of these hawkers do buy cheap ethanol, that it is not well refined to get excess gain. And combination of ethanol with herbs is considered very dangerous.
“Delta has the best ethanol in the world but the wholesalers are the problems. They mixed it with different chemicals, sacharine and many others after they bought from the producer, because they want to make profit,” a producer of ethanol said at Uvjewu, in Delta State.
Effect On Victims
A young man and ulcer patient identified as Emmanuel Udofia, was declared dead in an Intensive care unit (ICU) of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, ABUTH Zaria, Kaduna State, despite having a successful operation in 2015.
The doctors confirmed that he had a perforated hoke in his intestine. A family source said the test results show that the herbal concoction he took was responsible for the development. During the operation, his stomach was cleansed several times. This is among many other similar cases in Nigeria which were recorded between 2015 and now.
“I took one agbo jedi from one of the girls last month. I went gaga after 30 minutes, vomited twice and woke up later in the hospital. I experienced headache for three days. This was the last of it from me,” One Idown Adegunsoye from Akoko area of Ondo State said.
Dangerous Compounds Discovered In The Concoction Via Clinical Test
To assess the general perception of the safety and occurrence of adverse effects of the herbal mixture among Nigerians. This is even coming on the heed of a laboratory tests on the herbal concoctions bought from hawkers in three different locations which included Warri, Delta State, Oshodi Lagos State and Kaduna State. It was discovered that the mixture people take into their body systems at least once daily has more than 15 dangerous components.
A Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC/MS) diagnosis test, carried out in an environmental Laboratory in Warri, (The Earth Quest) on two samples which include Jedi and Opa-eyin, revealed some active Ingredient in the concoction and their health implications.
Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC/MS) GC/MS is a commonly used platform for measuring oxidized amino acids. Some active Ingredient include; “Luric Acid; this increases clidester concentration.
“Linotic Acid: high intake causes inflammation, heart disease, Cancer, dementia, neurological disorder.
“Ceoprylic Acid; this causes digestive and stomach upset.
“Stearic Acid; it increase in cholesterol concentration.
“Myristic Acid: it increases cholesterol concentration.
“Paluitic Acid: it causes over accumulation in the body, which lead to increase in cholesterol concentration.
“Beta carotene: high dose is linked to risk of some Cancers.
“Oleic Acid: it’s hypertensive.
“Dibutyl benzene _ 1,2 dicarboxylate ( dibutyl phthalate(DBP) : cytotoxic activity, causes nausea, vomity, dizziness and headache. Long-term exposure may cause liver and kidney damage , may equally harm developing foetus and make testes.
“Bis(2-methylnonyl) benzene -1,2- dicarboxylate; causes reproductive toxicity.”
The Alcohol itself is dangerous to the kidney and a lot of these concoction are mixed with poorly refined ethanol which is very dangerous to our health.
While diagnosis tests, carried out Malaria and Typhoid mixtures at Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria in Kaduna, Kaduna State and Petroleum Training Institute in Effurun, Delta State laboratories show that it contain heavy metals such as lead and Cadmium.
Experts Speak
The World Health Organization’s 2021 update of the Public health impact of chemicals: known and unknown estimates that nearly half of the 2 million lives lost to known chemicals exposure in 2019 were due to exposure to lead. Lead exposure is estimated to account for 21.7 million years lost to disability and death (disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs) worldwide due to long-term effects on health, including 30% of the global burden of idiopathic intellectual disability, 4.6% of the global burden of cardiovascular disease and 3% of the global burden of chronic kidney diseases.
WHO’s Key facts includes; “Exposure to lead can affect multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children and women of child-bearing age.
“Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it can accumulate over time. Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood.
“Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing fetus.
“There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
Dr. Abiola Toyin Ajayi, a Plant Geneticist, Plant Breeding Unit, at Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria gave explanation on one of the components, Linoleic Acid.
“Linoleic acid (LA) is an omega-6 fatty acid usually found in seed oils and vegetables that are sources of human diets today. LA is considered an essential fatty acid constituent of human tissue; its modest and consistent intake is associated with a decreased risk of atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, and headaches when combined with omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, and other chronic health conditions.
“Nonetheless, when the level becomes highly elevated in the blood beyond the recommended amounts through dietary intake, it becomes a precursor to oxidized LA metabolites (OXLAMs) and free radicals. The increased circulation of oxidized metabolites and free radicals has been linked to different types of diseases such as cardiovascular, atherosclerotic, hepatic, etc.
“The essential requirement for linoleic acid (LA) in the human diet was initially established based on studies in rats, indicating a need for 1-2% of total daily calories as omega-6 fat. However, a reevaluation suggests that the requirement might be overestimated, possibly closer to a 75% reduction, or 0.5% of dietary energy.
“This raises doubts about the actual essentiality of LA in human diets, especially since most people, according to dietary guidelines, already consume higher amounts than necessary. The optimal level is suggested to be around 1-2%, while current dietary guidelines recommend an upper limit of 10%, with reports indicating that most adults in the United States exceed this limit.
“Excessive consumption of linoleic acid (LA) is associated with health risks due to its tendency to promote lipid peroxidation, leading to the formation of oxidized LA-derived lipid metabolites (OXLAMs). This process is linked to chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration, and aging. Elevated tissue levels of LA, even from unprocessed whole foods, can accelerate metabolic damage by generating OXLAMs that damage various cellular structures.
“These oxidized metabolites, particularly from processed seed oils like canola oil, have been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, endothelial cell damage, memory impairments, and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, excess LA consumption inhibits the conversion of short-chain omega-3 fatty acids to long-chain fatty acids, affecting overall fatty acid metabolism and potentially contributing to insulin resistance and other health issues.
Ekundayo Gbenga T., the Assistant Chief Laboratory Technologist at Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria in Kaduna asserted that consuming raw herbs that contain heavy metals can pose serious health risks.
“Raw herbs consumption has its pros and cons with respect to human health. While some herbs furnish human system with micro and macro nutrition others may be non metabolizable or contain toxic chemicals. It’s important to research each herb’s properties, consult with a healthcare professional, and consider individual health history or status before incorporating raw herbs into your medications.
“Consuming raw herbs that contain heavy metals can pose serious health risks. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium can easily accumulate in the body over time, causing various health issues, including organ damage and central nervous system related problems.
“Frequent testing of herbs for heavy metal contamination and seeking guidance from healthcare professionals are of important to mitigate these risks, he said.
Laboratory Technologist also warned that excessive intake of herbal concoctions could lead to many devastating kidney and liver problems.
Government Responses
Mr. Bitrus Fraden, a Director at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) affirmed that the agency does not regulate herbal concoction but only regulate packaged products.
“The act mandates of the Agency is to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Medical Devices, Packaged Water, Chemicals and Detergents (collectively known as regulated products).
“We don’t regulate unpackaged products which the herbal concoction falls under,” a director said when visited NAFDAC headoffice in the Federal Capital Territory.
A director at Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja also told our Correspondent that the Ministry’s mandate is to ensure high-quality healthcare and vital services for a healthy Nigeria through policy making and directives.
As the final arbiter of public health regulations in Nigeria, the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa did not respond to the questions put to him on what are the specific agencies and parastatals saddled with the responsibility of regulating the production, sale and consumption of herbal concoctions as NAFDAC had informed our investigation that unpackaged herbal concoction does not fall under its regulatory mandatemandate.
The Minister also kept mum on the plans by the government to stop or regulate the production and sale of herbal concoction which has continued to send thousands of Nigerians to their early graves, sometimes slowly or on the spot, according to our special investigation into this growing menace.
However, the investigation into the nefarious activities of herbal concoction traders, which have become a widespread menace in the country, indicate that they operate without any form of regulation and in compliance with public health conventions, yet they pay dues to the government.
A comprehensive surveillance system for monitoring the adverse effects of herbal medicines is now essential. Also knowledge of the correlation existing between the marker compounds and other ingredients that occur in plants is a necessary requirement for ensuring the efficacy and quality of the herbal medicines.
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