The increasing consumption of medicinal plants has highlighted the importance of rigorous quality control, particularly concerning contamination by toxic elements, such as mercury (Hg). Even at trace levels, Hg exposure poses significant health risks, including neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and endocrine disruption. Therefore, sensitive and reliable analytical methods are essential for its determination. In this study, a microwave-assisted wet digestion in a pressurized digestion cavity (MAWD-PDC) method was developed and validated for the determination of Hg in medicinal plants commonly used for anxiety treatment. Mercury was quantified by cold vapor generation coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (CVG-ICP-MS). Using a high sample mass (2.0 g), a diluted acid solution (8 mol L−1 HNO3), and a microwave irradiation program of 20 min at 250 °C, the effective decomposition of all medicinal plants was achieved. The validation of the proposed method was carried out according to the Eurachem guidelines, demonstrating a good linearity (R² > 0.9995), precision (8 %), accuracy (99 %), robustness (7 %), low limits of detection (0.101 ng g−1), and quantification (0.300 ng g−1). The proposed method was also considered environmentally friendly because it requires only diluted acid for the digestion of medicinal plants, reducing the toxic laboratory residues. Moreover, it is one of the few methods that enable digestion of a 2.0 g sample using only diluted acids, allowing Hg determination at ultra-low concentrations. Finally, the proposed method can be recommended for the quality control of Hg in medicinal plants, ensuring the safe consumption of these plants by the population.
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